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Pious Augustus
Pious Augustus
Pious, during his playable chapter
Chapter Year 26 BC
Other Appearance(s) 1150 AD, 1460 AD, 1485 AD, 1983 AD, 2000 AD,
numerous unknown dates
Location(s) Forbidden City
Angkor Thom
Oublié Cathedral
Ehn'gha
Occupation Roman Centurion
Weapon(s) Gladius
Voiced by Richard Doyle

"Face me, and you shall surely perish!"

Pious Augustus is a Roman Centurion in his late 20s, at war in Ancient Persia. His playable chapter occurs in 26 BCE, but he continues to appear until 2000 CE. He debuts as the playable character of Chapter 1: The Chosen One, before he falls to corruption and becomes a main antagonist.

Appearance[]

Pious first appears as a rather strong Centurion of medium build wearing gladiator armor and wielding a Gladius.

When he becomes corrupted, his skin appears dried, revealing a shriveled skeletal body. His armor also gains a corrupted appearance, being black instead of silver and the three circular sigil on his chest now bearing a skull on the center circle.

Playable Chapter[]

In 26 BC we see Pious and his comrades discuss the success of their previous battle. One of the soldiers praises Pious' tactics on the battlefield, guaranteeing an easy victory. Another soldier asks about an artifact that the Emperor tasked Pious with locating; Pious responds with confidence. As the soldiers begin their search Pious starts hearing voices calling out his name. The voices lead him to several strange spires in the desert which transport him into an ancient temple known as the Forbidden City. He fights his way through several Mantorok zombies, destroys a statue of himself (which remains with the Tome of Eternal Darkness), before finding three powerful artifacts which represent the three Ancients.

Choosing one of the three artifacts (and, by extension, one of the three ancients) turns Pious into a powerful lich. At the end of his chapter, Pious exalts his newfound power with a warning to others that challenging him will surely result in them perishing at his hand.

Servant of the Ancients[]

Pious Liche

Pious is transformed into the Lich

Although he appears in various disguises, such as a monk who supports the Inquisition, a collector of rare items in search of a temple in Cambodia, a warlord who has conquered parts of Persia and enslaved several people for the construction of the Pillar of Flesh, or even Edward Roivas' own ghost, the other main characters easily see through his disguises (usually moments before being murdered by his loyal minions). He expresses a deep respect for the Ancient whose artifact he has chosen, never referring to them by their name in their presence and instead opting to use titles and honorifics. He reports anything and everything to his Ancient, whether or not they are already aware. In addition, depending on which Ancient he is aligned with, his role in regards to their plans vary between being the one who does the more detailed planning (Chatturgha) or otherwise simply carrying out the task (Ulayoth).

Pious plays an active role in deterring the actions of the heroes, although he prefers to delegate work to summoned minions. However he is not above getting his hands dirty; he attempts to put a bullet in the back of Lindsey's head, tries to kill Luther despite the presence of the Black Guardian (even offered aid to the Black Guardian while implying that Luthor might pose a threat to the latter), before eventually fighting Alex Roivas at the games conclusion.

Initially he may have shown some degree of compassion, as he was willing to let Ellia go without incident when she first encountered him.

Boss Battle

At the end of the game, Alexandra Roivas collects all of the Ancients’ essences (save for the Artifact Pious chose), takes them to Ehn'gha and prepares to do battle with Pious. When the fight starts, Pious absorbs his Ancient’s essence into his body and begins striding toward the player. As long as the artifact is intact, Pious cannot be harmed. Players must hit Pious' shield in order to force the artifact from his body. Once exposed, the artifact must be hit with the Enchanted Gladius until Alex's sanity is low, at which point the spirits of deceased bearers of the Tome can enter her body to fight Pious. The player must repeat this process with all characters (except Edward Roivas) until the artifact is smashed and Pious' shield is weakened. Once his shield is destroyed it is possible to attack Pious, who will retaliate with several magickal spells of his Ancient’s alignment. As the battle progresses, Pious uses higher-tier spells (up to 7 runes) and occasionally summons Zombies and (very rarely) Horrors. He can also strike the player with his staff. When Pious is wounded he will move more slowly, his power weakening until he can only hurt Alex by hitting her with his staff. Pious has more health than the Black Guardian, but can be beaten more quickly. During the entirety of the battle, the Ancient that Alex summoned will fight Pious' Ancient. Alex's Ancient will eventually win when Pious is defeated, regardless of circumstances. After Pious falls, Alex's Ancient kills Pious' Ancient and prepares to enslave Earth. Edward Roivas’s spirit will appear at the top of one of the magickal towers as the player is tasked with finding the right rune to use in order to bind the Ancient and seal it away once more.

Abilities[]

Pious Augustus, prior to being made a missionary to one of the Ancients, was mentioned to have been an extremely skilled centurion, having managed to defeat an enemy in Persia with implied minimal casualties on the Romans' end, and was depicted as being efficient in killing his foes when transported to the Forbidden City. He was also shown to lack fear since he is the only character in the game to be unaffected by the sanity drain Mantorok's zombies inflict on every other protagonist, presumably due to his status as a career soldier. His lack of fear was such that when the Black Guardian was roaring upon being first summoned, despite his minions being paralyzed with fear of it, he calmly yet firmly told it that he was its master, not its meal before ordering it to stand guard over the stronger rival ancient's artifact. Despite this, however, he did admit he learned what fear truly entailed when touching the artifact in the beginning of his chapter.

Pious1

Pious using a five-point spell to communicate with Xel'lotath.

After gaining one of the Ancients' artifacts and thus becoming their missionary, his powers are increased exponentially, giving him the ability to practice the magick powered by that Ancient, including a powerful summoning spell, and is able to command all of that Ancient's forces. Depending on which artifact he took, he had gained either the power to not only invigorate his deceased body but also level buildings, render the ground asunder, and wield power that mortals can only dream about with a mere touch (Chattur'gha); the ability to read people's minds and drive them mad with a mere suggestion (Xel'lotath); or significant understanding of the multiverse to such an extent that there was neither a mountain too high for him nor any city too far from his reach (Ulyaoth). Regardless of which Ancient he aligned with, he also became able to wield Mantorok's own magick, shown when he binded and mortally wounded Mantorok in Angkor Thom and used a 9-Point version of "Dispel Magick" spell at instant speed in his final battle with Alexandra Roivas. He also had the ability to shapeshift, as evidenced by his disguises as Phillipe Augustine, Paul Augustine, and Tamerlane. His disguises are also not limited to the living, as evidenced by his disguising himself as the ghost of then-recently deceased Edward Roivas in an attempt to break Alex's spirit. He is also the only character to have access to the 9-Point Circle of Power magick without relying on the pillars in Ehn'gha, a testament to his magickal strength and prowess.

Trivia[]

  • ”Pious” is the English spelling of the Latin name "Pius." In both languages it means "dutiful" or “devoutly religious”.
  • Pious Augustus's voice actor, Richard Doyle, would later voice Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Coincidentally, both characters were well-renowned and legendary soldiers who fell from grace and got involved with a cult, although the primary difference is that Big Boss fought against the cult while Augustus embraced it.
  • Pious Augustus is the only playable character besides Edward Roivas to actually narrate his chapter of Eternal Darkness (all the other playable characters' chapters, including Alexandra Roivas', were narrated by Edward Roivas), as well as one of only two characters (possibly three if one counts Edward's narration in the third ending's additional scene) to give an ending narration for their chapters (Alexandra Roivas narrates the ending to the game in all but the full third ending).
  • Pious Augustus' statue, located in the hall where players receive the Tome of Eternal Darkness is the only one that is broken. It was damaged by Pious himself during the in-game targeting tutorial. His name is visible on the statue until destroyed.
    • The fact that Pious has a statue among the champions employed by Mantorok suggest that Pious was intended to be a guardian of the Ancients and help prevent their return. The destruction of his statue symbolises his failure and corruption by his chosen Ancient.
      • Ironically, said statue also appears in the hall even after he destroyed it, implying that even Pious's turning to the ancients was part of Mantorok's plan all along.
  • Pious Augustus is the only playable character who doesn't gain the Tome of Eternal Darkness during his chapter, although it is implied that he eventually managed to find it.
  • Pious Augustus is the only playable character (not counting Anthony) whose game over text does not mention that he died to the Eternal Darkness, dooming humanity as a result. Instead, it states that Pious has perished following his Emperor's request, and that the Ancients' artifacts remain buried in the sands waiting to be discovered by someone else.
  • The spell he uses to summon the communication channel with his Ancient is the 5-Point magick cycle "Magick Pool" spell (Tier Pargon Redgormor "Rune of his Ancient" Pargon).
  • Pious Augustus made a cameo on a poster inside the B2 Armory in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, due to the game being made by the same developers as Eternal Darkness, Silicon Knights.
  • There were originally supposed to be more endings (beyond Pious Augustus taunting Alexandra Roivas' body on losing the final battle) that would directly show the consequences of loss.[1] These include:
    • Red Path: this would show several humans lined up waiting to be consumed by Chattur'gha, who is on a nearby hill;
      • This is notable for being the only ending that matches and is expanded on by the visions Alex has after winning on Chattur'gha's route.
    • Blue Path: displays a zombie apocalypse with the ruins of various cities, the landscape being remade and molded out of countless bones;
    • Green Path: would have shown a ruined city with green lighting.
  • Depending on the Ancient chosen in the first chapter, Pious' interactions with his Ancient will vary, although he remains subservient to the ancients throughout:
    • With Chattur'gha, Pious is the most proactive, doing most (if not all) of the planning;
    • Conversely, Pious tends to act more as Xel'lotath's equal, sharing the responsibilities of planning. Whilst he remains subservient, Xel'lotath hints at a future betrayal;
    • Pious is clearly submissive to Ulyaoth, following orders to the letter and ingratiating himself to the point that the ancient finds it tiresome; Augustus has little, if any, active role in the planning process.
  • Pious Augustus is one of five playable characters who managed to gain the Tome of Eternal Darkness without warping to its resting spot beforehand (the others being Ellia, Maximillian Roivas, Edward Roivas, and Alexandra Roivas.)

Gallery[]

Notes and references[]

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