Parallax, the Dread Zealot
Model #: NG-230511
Elite Rank: Elite-G7-PRP, Purple Chaos Emerald
Codename: Parallax
Title: Dread Zealot
Favored Skill(s):
- Weapon Formation
- Negative Energies
- Dark Portals
Weapons: Channeling Blades
Character Concept
So, I need to start by addressing that I actually came up with the concept for Parallax for one of my Hyperdimension stories, specifically, "Nepsisters: Healing the Broken Heart". He was meant to be one of the secret bad guys that I'd reveal during the story. In fact, if you've read Nepsisters, you would've already realized that I've teased Parallax, with "Project Parallax".
However, over time, considering that Parallax is one of my Original Gizoids, I ended up adding him to the story of the Gizoid Archives. Effectively, I ended up coming up with two different versions of Parallax. In fact, I created the Gizoid Archives partly because I wanted to showcase both versions of Parallax, and that's why I created the Archives were created around the same time I was writing the new chapter. But I've already gone into the specifics of why I made the Archives, so let's continue.
Now, if you want to see the version of Parallax in Nepsisters, and his role in that story, I would recommend you actually read Nepsisters yourself, because this profile will focus solely on his role in the Gizoid Archives. For the moment, this won't be the last time I bring up Nepsisters, but only because he was originally created for that story. In the Archives, he has a different role.
Also, in Nepsisters, the point of having a Gizoid in the story is to take advantage of the Gizoid's ability to Capture Skills, and how he's a threat because of it. But in the Gizoid Archives, each Gizoid is based on the unique abilities they chose to build up. Because of this, Parallax has different abilities in the Archives than he does in Nepsisters (aside from many of his weapon formations).
I have released the Chapter in Nepsisters that introduces Parallax alongside this Profile, which is Chapter 18. I'd recommend you check it out.
So, a few last things before we move on. First, Parallax's weapons, his Channeling Blades, are made to arrange themselves into different weapons. These were created as a clever way to allow Parallax to form different weapons to fit his needs, and play into his Gizoid ability to copy techniques.
After all, most of the characters in Hyperdimension use weapons, unlike Sonic characters, so a means to allow him to copy the appropriate weapons seemed necessary. This was created before I came up with the idea of the Gizoid's weapons being formed by nanobots, but the Channeling Blades and their extra abilities make Parallax unique. Pay close attention, Hyperdimension fans, and you'll see weapon formations that might be familiar (and one I just added because).
And one last fun detail, originally, I called Parallax by a different name, which was "Obsidian". You probably know that obsidian is a volcanic, glassy, black rock, or you know it as that one block in Minecraft that requires a Diamond Pickax to mine, and can be used to open a portal to the Nether.
Actually, the Obsidian Block in Minecraft was kind of the inspiration for the original name... I was intending to make a blackish and purple Gizoid that can make portals and use dark energies, and the idea of the Nether Portal came to mind (not the Nether itself, just the portal). But I wasn't really happy with that name, and eventually, I came up with Parallax, which was much better.
Parallax's Design
Parallax's general shape / silhouette is very basic for a Gizoid, but he makes up for this with lots of lighting built into his armor. A very dark gray Gizoid with small gray plates bolted onto his frame in various places (his "cheeks", top of the chest by his shoulders, and on his knees), his black horn has little indigo lights along the side, and his lower carriage has vents with purple lighting streaming through, as do the fronts of his lower legs.
Parallax also uses indigo as his default eye color.
His forearms hold his Channeling Blades when they are not in use. Each blade will hook around his arms, with six blades per arm, for a total of twelve.
Parallax's Weapons and Combat Style
Parallax has special weapons that are equipped around his forearms, which can detach from him, as he levitates them around him. These are his Channeling Blades, and Parallax can effortlessly control each Blade individually. There are six Blades per arm, making for a total of twelve Blades.
Each Blade acts as a handle / generator, which can form a negative-energy short blade, or could build up power to fire high-impact beams, similar to Argentum's weapons, but weaker with each blade individually. Or they can fire more constant beams to slice through enemies, as well. But naturally, the combination of all twelve blades is a force to be reckoned with, and getting close to Parallax is a challenge.
Three or more Channeling Blades can even focus their lasers together to unleash a stronger beam that can blast apart tougher targets. (think like the lasers on the Death Star in Star Wars that combine together to make the planet-destroying laser). Naturally, the more Blades used in the combined beam, the more powerful the beam.
But they are called Channeling Blades for a reason. They can channel energy through them, and connect to each other with magnetic fields. With this, they can form the energy into blades, strings, or barriers.
All of this allows the Blades to be arranged in such a way as to form weapons, such as dual swords, battle-axes, a spear, and even a whip-sword (known as the "spine whip", due to how it looks). More advanced formations are possible, too, like a rail gun, for long-range energy blasts, or a great bow, which can fire storms of energy arrows rapidly. Finally, Parallax can use his Channeling Blades to make a "star shield", which arranged the Blades in a star arrangement, making a protective barrier, like normal shields, and with tiny energy blades pocking out, so Parallax can "throw" the shield like a buzzsaw-boomerang combo.
While not his specialty, like all Gizoids, Parallax is also good with unarmed combat and fisticuffs, just in case you get by his Blades. Parallax is also proficient in using negative energies. His main specialty is making portals, forming them on top of himself, and warping elsewhere.
All in all, Parallax is one of the strongest Gizoids, due to his skill, variety of weapons, and power. While not having the have level of ability in variant Skills as Cobalt, Parallax is several levels higher in power than any other Gizoid Elite, aside from Chrome, where Parallax is the only Gizoid known to be on Chrome's level of power, aside from Kronos himself.
Parallax's Favored Skills
Parallax doesn't use his Skills much, as his Channeling Blades easily fill in the need for such powerful abilities. But what Skills he does have, his negative energy powers, are all powerful in their own right.
It should be noted that Parallax is so attuned to negative energy, that he isn't affected by their corrupted properties. He is the only Gizoid to have achieved this, ...though it doesn't mean much because of what happens to Parallax.
- Mephiles Portal:
A dark portal Skill that Parallax managed to get a hand on early on in his journeys. With this power, Parallax can form a sphere of negative energy on top of him, and disappear in it. Then, another sphere will appear, with Parallax in it.
Parallax can even use this skill to teleport other things, including his Channeling Blades, which he can use to warp them around, catching foes off guard and widening the range of his attacks quickly, taking control of the battlefield.
(Yes, these would be the same kind of portals Mephiles the Dark makes. How he got a Skill from a being that was erased from time is unknown, though it could be possible that Kronos transferred him the Skill. Parallax just can't use these portals for time travel, like Mephiles could. Also, I imagine this Skill being better than it was in Sonic '06, the sphere grows and vanishes much more quickly, forming on top of the targets for warping, and they either fade away or disperse into particles, much better than popping out of existence seen the poorly-made '06. At least, that's how I like to imagine it.)
Some wonder if Parallax could use these portals to travel dimensions, much like Chrome, and later Cobalt. However, as far as everyone knows, Parallax has never tried this, nor does he plan to (at least, not in the beginning...).
- Nega Pulse:
Parallax will unleash a short-range pulse of negative energy, throwing anyone by him back. He can use this to push enemies away if he's getting overwhelmed, and bring his Channeling Blades back to his side to prevent it from happening again.
He has also been known to be ambivalent if allies get caught in this, though this is rare, as being near Parallax is dangerous as he gets going with his regular abilities.
- Nega Storm:
Parallax will create a small orb of negative energy, and toss it forward. Once it reaches Parallax's target, the orb will burst, and unleash a small vortex of energy, tearing apart anything caught in it.
(This is based on the Psionic Storm used by the Protoss High Templar in StarCraft.)
- Black Hole:
A more powerful version of "Nega Storm", which once deployed, can pull enemies into it to get torn apart. This isn't a true black hole, nor is it meant to fully emulate one, like Cobalt's "Violet Void". It's just the name of the Skill, but as you can tell, it's still incredibly powerful.
- Annihilation Orb:
Parallax will condense a lot of negative energy into a single point, and then send that tiny orb flying forward. This orb is unstable, so as it flies forward, it will release its energy out in bolts of dark lightning, which will strike anything the orb flies by.
These dark lightning bolts cause decent damage, but the real draw is that they are painful.
(Another Skill based on StarCraft 2, this time the Psionic Orb ability the Ascendant uses in the Legacy of the Void Campaign and Co-op Mode.)
- Titanic Glaive:
Technically, this is a weapon formation with Parallax's Channeling Blades, but this formation exerts tons of energy, so Parallax categorizes this as Skill, because of it.
This formation is used to make a massive giant-sized sword (hence the name of this Skill). The formation is this: Two Channeling Blades act as the grip, and four make the hilt, and are used to help focus the energy on the "blade". The last six blades are arranged vertically above the "hilt", with large gaps between them.
Each Channeling Blade making the actual blade will form two massive, curved, wing-like blades out of energy, with the Blade on top forming the energy arcs into a tip, for the proper blade tip.
This massive blade can be used to cleave through gigantic foes, and its cutting power is immense. It's basically the nuclear bomb of swords (metaphorically, but it's still powerful).
(Yes, this is inspired by the final attack in the Knight Titan fight in Sonic Frontiers.)
- Devastation Storm:
Parallax's ultimate Skill, he creates a powerful storm of negative energy. The energy forms into a cloud, and unleashes massive bright bolts of lightning that come down like lasers. Each bolt can decimate buildings and fortified positions. The bolts are so powerful, that they can burn away the atmosphere.
The storm can cover a large area, but can drain Parallax of energy. But if Parallax somehow was able to gain enough energy, he could use it to cover the whole world.
Parallax also has no control over what the bolts strike, and it's completely random, so collateral is common with this Skill. So, because of all of this, and the potentially irreversible damage the bolts could cause, Parallax was banned from using this Skill.
But he never deleted it from his data banks. He just chose to never use this Skill. That was until he joined Kronos's side...
Story and Character
Early on in his journey, Parallax ended up being a risk. He found a powerful source of negative energy, and made it a part of him, especially later, when he obtained the Skill to create portals. He refused to explain where he found this power, or to remove it from his Skill list. Negative energy has been known to corrupt in any number of ways, and yet Parallax always seemed unaffected.
Despite this, many worried that this could lead to his own corruption. So, while Parallax remained true to his principles, he otherwise played nice. He followed orders, he never complained. He was the perfect soldier, albeit cold and cruel to anyone who stood in his way.
His power grew as he learned more about the energy he has captured, the more he learned to control it, bend it to his will. In the beginning, he was never the strongest of the Gizoids, nor did he care to be. But over time, he did become stronger. One day, he even managed to beat Chrome, the first of the Elite Giziods. Parallax felt it was a fluke, but Chrome said otherwise.
Parallax ignored this, and continued to follow, nothing more. But to him, something about never felt right. Why was he following? To defeat an ancient Gizoid threat? And what about after it was all said and done? Many other Gizoids have been terminated because they were viewed to become a threat to the world, rather than what would save it. Could that happen to Parallax?
No, it wouldn't do any good for him to think that way. So long as he listened to his superiors, he could continue to be who he was...
- Kronos's Meeting:
The day things changed for Parallax was the day he met Kronos, ...alone.
Parallax never intended to meet with the Ancient Weapon this way. He was simply tasked with a mission to do alone. And yet, as he was finishing up, there he was, the Black Gizoid.
Knowing his mission, Parallax was willing to risk himself, if it meant a chance to bring down their enemy. Until Kronos asked for a temporary truce, to give him a chance to explain himself, and why he was fighting. Parallax was unsure of what he was saying, but he decided to hear him out, and deactivated his tracking, for the moment, so no one can see this conversation.
Kronos told him of the Cycle of Strife, and the endless battle of good and evil, that the peace they were seeking would never last. He said that the new generation of Gizoids were nothing more than weapons, tools, to perpetuate war.
...And Kronos asked if Parallax was okay with this.
Parallax at first, didn't know what to make of this, but after some thought, he admitted to Kronos, and to himself, that many Gizoids were discarded simply for being dangerous, and for not showing enough care for their creators and humanity. And he wasn't sure what would happen when it was all said and done.
Kronos offered to bring Parallax's fears to an end. For now, Parallax should let his creators believe he was a loyal soldier, and wait for when the time was right. Until then, consider what he said, and ask his fellow Gizoids how they felt in regard to being discarded. Then, the Jaded Gizoid made his leave.
For a moment, Parallax lamented having not taken his chance to strike down the Ancient Gizoid, but... his words stuck.
- Elite Ranking:
Parallax did as Kronos said, and continued to listen to orders. And sometime after Parallax's meeting with Kronos, he found himself selected as the last of the Elite Gizoids, and granted the final Chaos Emerald. Over time, he had become powerful enough to regularly be a match to Chrome, and soundly beat many of the other Elites. Even still, he had yet to receive his title.
Furthermore, his trust in his creators had lessened. His feelings over the lost, "dangerous" Gizoids never left him, and this new power had driven him over the edge. He was given the power simply because he played the perfect soldier, and now Chrome, the leader of the Elites, was trying to teach him to play nice with the other Elites, those who also were also only granted power because they played nice.
Did they even care about their brothers and sisters that never got the chance to grow as they have?
He decided to bring this up, starting a conversation with Chrome, Cobalt, and [REDACTED], the "nicer" of the Elites, who cared much about humanity. He explained that he believed they were being treated as less than they were, as nothing more than weapons, tools of war, when they had grown to be much more.
But as it was, they were to be used for one purpose, and after that? What would become of them once the threat of Kronos was over?
Chrome explained that while they were built with a purpose, their creators knew and supported the value each Gizoid had in their identity. Then Parallax brought up all of the Gizoids that got decommissioned. Chrome reminded him that those Gizoids were too dangerous. Parallax countered that they still had dangerous Gizoids, even among the Elites, such as Reverie and Argentum.
Chrome then told Parallax that above all else, they were the protectors of humanity, and they had to make sure that they understood the value that humans had with each other. Parallax countered that they were forced to see that value, as it was their purpose. And soon, they might all be discarded, despite that.
Cobalt sided with Chrome, explaining that he did see the point that they were robots, and possibly viewed as tools. They were all built with the purpose of defending their world and stopping the threat of the Ancient Weapon, after all.
But Cobalt's resolve was still to protect the world. His argument that he came up with was that as sentient machines, they were no different than human children. They didn't get to choose why they were made, who made them, and what they were. But as they grew, they could choose who they would become, and if they decided to see him differently, he would prove he was more than a mere machine.
Parallax appreciated Cobalt's views, but knew that it meant he wouldn't be on his side. Cobalt would side with humans up until they turned on him, and at that point, it might be too late. And Chrome was willing to do the same, perhaps even bow down to their so-called "overlords".
Chrome ended the conversation, asking Parallax to think about things from their perspective, and to consider the value of life that the humans had. But Parallax didn't see it, and if this was how his own fellow Gizoids were to speak to him... perhaps he should bring it all to an end, give them what they were asking for. In fact, he began to enjoy the thought.
And he found that perhaps... a few Gizoids could be on his side. Reverie, one of his fellow Elites, one who wasn't fully trusted, and believed to have achieved her rank through illegitimate means, asked him why he ignored her. And while at first, he was uninterested in her actions, his mind about her had changed, so he told her, "because I find you interesting, and strong. I don't think, in the end, you'll bow down to our... oppressors."
- At World's End:
When Kronos appeared to announce his end to the "Cycle of Strife", to bring an end to the law of time itself, Parallax knew that soon, he'd have to make a decision. So as the Elites traveled to Little Planet to face Kronos, he was taking in each of the Gizoids, deciding if any of them would understand.
Parallax helped in the ensuing battle, but he didn't put his all into it. The time was now. And he knew... the humans would betray him, and the other Gizoids would accept it, unless they listened to him. And if this was to be the case, then he might as well let it end instead.
So, he turned on the others, and knocked away Chrome before he could finish off Kronos, disabling the Elite Leader for a moment. He revealed that Kronos approached him, and told him the truth. They were made for the Cycle of Strife as weapons, perpetuating war and conflict, and once it was all over, they'd have no place in it. So, he kept to himself, hid his true feelings, so he could become an Elite, and help his fellow Gizoids, his brothers and sisters see the truth.
Unfortunately, Cobalt argued with him. He believed that good people fight to protect what they care for, friends, family, loved ones, that they made communities in hopes to raise each other to be happy. Like how he saw his fellow Gizoids as his brothers and sisters, as they all did. He's grown past his original purpose, to now fought for his own reasons. He didn't want to protect everyone because that was what he was built for, but because he understood it was the right to do.
But luckily for Parallax, other Gizoids had listened. [REDACTED] turned on Chrome, attacking him and keeping him down, and Reverie, as Parallax felt would happen, surprised Cobalt in an attempt to silence him. Unfortunately, Argentum and Saturn remained on Cobalt's and Chrome's side, but that was of little consequence to Parallax. They would fall to their own false beliefs.
The sides were now split in half, and Parallax began to enjoy the feeling of dread and despair, even exclaiming this to Cobalt, who had challenged him personally, a mistake, as he was losing and overpowered. Parallax claimed he wanted to see to the destruction of those who would oppose him. And Kronos liked this...
In Parallax's time growing his power, he had obtained a Skill that could level entire cities with enough power, and Kronos knew that this Skill could end the battle, and bring them closer to ending the Cycle of Strife. So he gifted him with the title of Dread Zealot, and transferred some of his power to his loyal follower, to grant him the destruction he so desired. And with this, Parallax, the newly dubbed Dread Zealot, unleashed all of his negative energy to form a Devastation Storm.
With Kronos's empowerment, the Devastation Storm spread across the world, bringing it to its knees. And Parallax enjoyed every moment of it.
Until he felt his power disappear. In a last-ditch effort, Chrome used his divine Prismatic power to force the energy of all of the Chaos Emerald that acted as the Elite's Power Cores into himself. This left Parallax unable to continue to fuel his negative storm, though it was strong enough to continue on without him.
But that was the least of his worries, as Chrome used this power to challenge Kronos in one final clash, and using the power of the Emeralds... he sealed away Kronos. This angered Parallax. He had put all of this faith into the Black Gizoid, hoping he'd bring everything to an end. And this pathetic excuse of a Gizoid had ruined that, doing the impossible.
But before Parallax could act on this, Cobalt had also made a desperate move. He had flown into Parallax's Devastation Storm, in order to absorb the negative energy, and use them to form his own negative Hyper-Go-Ons, engaging the power of Purple Frenzy, and setting his sights on Parallax.
Cobalt rushed Parallax, forcing a final fight between the two Gizoids. Parallax was able to hold off the new might of the nega-charged Gizoid, but it was a struggle. And Parallax received no backup, as his allies were held back by the Gizoids still on Cobalt's side.
In the end, Parallax, weakened thanks to Chrome's interference and not having enough time to regather his energy, was overpowered by Cobalt, torn apart, and left to fall into the destruction of Little Planet, caused by his own storm.
Parallax may have seemed to have been defeated, but his storm had successfully destroyed the whole world, having burned away the entire atmosphere and ravaged the lands. And signs suggest the Parallax may have survived.
One of the seven Time Stones, the relics that Kronos had sought in order to end time, could not be recovered, and was missing. And it is believed that Parallax must've retrieved in.
Chances were, Parallax would want the seven Chaos Emeralds to reverse Kronos's seal, and then the Time Stones to allow the Temporal Annihilator could complete his goal. Cobalt and the other surviving Gizoids had begun to travel dimensions, sealing the other six Time Stones in different worlds, and intending to keep everything Parallax wanted and needed, if he did indeed survive.
But, with Parallax's power... there is always the possibility that he could cross dimensions by his own power.
Author's Note: Yep, I've already put up the second of the Big Bads to my Archives, but as I explained, he was created for something else. With that said, I hope you'll check out "Nepsister: Healing the Empty Heart", to see the role the alternate Parallax serves in that story, if nothing else.
Now, I want to point out, or rather remind you, that I will be editing all prior Archives, to replace the "[REDACTED]" with Parallax's name, at least where it refers to him.
Also, I am going to be updating other parts of the Archives. Some of Cobalt's Skills are going to be updated, such as Green Hoever and Gray Quake, and I'll be giving him a few more Skills as well, one for Red Burst (based on the Burst Wispon), an Ivory Lightning and Pink Spikes combo, and a Purple Frenzy and Yellow Drill combo. And I've already added a new Unlimited Colors power.
Kronos and Argentum also are getting new Skills. Argentum will be getting "Diamond Storm" and "Eternal Preservation", and Kronos will receive "Time Break", a fitting Skill for a time manipulator with the Time's Eater abilities.
All of these updates will be made as soon as possible, probably today or tomorrow, right after this profile and Nepsisters Chapter 18 are posted. So please check those out!