- "What if I were to tell you that you have been betrayed by a great many people? What if I told you that I have discovered a lie so great, it would tear the Kingdom apart? (...) Why don't you ask your filthy First Sages? The Fallen Sage now walks free in Hyrule, moving with vengeance and purpose. It is she that will expose a great conspiracy that the First Sages have played against Hyrule. For so long you zealots have idolized those First Sages... Turning a blind eye to their blatant disregard of your devoted fandom! Soon though, there will be war against the First Sages-"
- —Akazoo adressing King Kazakk.
Akazoo Vapith is a Hylian military commander who plays a major role during during the Gerudo Wars and later betrays the Kingdom of Hyrule for the Gohma. He is the third owner of the Eye of Truth.
History[]
A view of Akazoo's heavily damaged face.
Age of Legend[]
Akazoo is born at some point during the year 79 AG, to a family of common blood. During his early adulthood he serves in the Hylian military, eventually being promoted to the role of commander. By 99 AG, he has become leader of the Iron-clad Elites, a prestigious wing of the Hylian army.
He and Kazakk met during his service, and they became friends. Likewise, he became acquainted with the ruling monarch Princess Marhala Nohansen Zelda III, and her daughter Oraiya, even attending the former's wedding. Impressed by his intelligence, charm & dedication to the crown, Marhala arranges for her daughter to be betrothed to Akazoo.
Gerudo Wars[]
In 99 AG, when trade from Ordona Province suddenly stops, a young Commander Akazoo, leader of the Kingdom's Iron-Clad Elites, accompanies Princess Marhala and General Kazakk to Nal Ordona to investigate the problem. There he discovers a small army of Gerudo and Darknuts trying to take over the town from the Ordonians. The Hylian army works with them to drive the invaders away.
During the battle, the ranks of the invaders are suddenly bolstered by a group of Stalfos raising from the corpses of killed Gerudo, though by working with the Ordonians, the Hylians are able to emerge victorious.
After the battle, Akazoo inspects the destroyed Stalfos, fascinated to know that immortality is not a legend and actually exists. Kazakk tries to dissuade Akazoo from this, considering the Stalfos to be evil abominations and undeath to be damnation.
Immediately after that, Princess Zelda recalls the entire army to Gundrumether, having been warned by the assassin Azrily that Lord Agahnim, head of the Sheikah Cadre, has been abusing his authority by officially declaring war against the Gerudo.
Returning to Hyrule Castle, Princess Zelda then fortifies Hyrule Castle as Gerudo armies under the command of Ganondorf march upon the capital in preparation for an assault. Akazoo helps defend the city against the invading Gerudo, though Ganondorf's forces prove too powerful. After Princess Zelda is killed in a duel with Ganondorf, the rest of the garrison surrenders to the Gerudo.
During the Darknut occupation of Hyrule Castle Town, Akazoo asks the eccentric girl Agitha, who proclaims herself Princess of the Insect Kingdom, to use her house as a hiding place for himself and his men. Agitha accepts on the condition he obeys her commands. Akazoo agrees but says once he marries Zelda she will have to obey him. Agitha grins, tells Akazoo that he will still have to listen to her Queen - a Gohma Queen.
Akazoo is killed by Kazakk.
A year after the city's fall, Akazoo leads the imprisoned Hylian garrison to aid Impa in a revolt against Agahnim. After Agahnim is killed, the Eye of Truth, which he has been using to control Hylian soldiers, falls into the possession of Akazoo.
Akazoo then accompanies Daphnes Kazakk in the invasion of Ashinon and Ontheon to capture Ganondorf and rescue the young Princess Zelda from Vaati's clutches.
Second Golden Age[]
Following the end of the war, in 103 AG, Akazoo is wed to Oraiya, though their union is fleeting. With Marhala dead, and no one able to enforce her betrothal, Oraiya instead attempts to annul her marriage to Akazoo, in favour of General Kazakk. He is rewarded with a title and high-echelon military rank for his service in the Gerudo Wars, becoming one of Hyrule's noble Lords, perhaps as a form of compensation for his dissolved betrothal.
Feeling cheated and rejected, Akazoo begins plotting against the Royal family in secret, intending to overthrow them. Akazoo begins using his friend Azrily to acquire secrets from the Sheikah Cadre which may be useful to him. He adopts the orphaned Agitha, likely to siphon money out of her estate.
Their work uncovers many secrets hidden by the glory and celebration of the two most recent conflicts. They become aware of the manipulation that lead to the coronation of king Sil Rhoam Bosphoramus, thereby tarnishing the viability of the Zelda dynasty's claim to the throne. He traces the bloodline of what would have been the rightful ruler to his adoptive daughter, Agitha. He marries her, likely to strengthen his own claim. At some point they uncover the conspiracy of the First Sages, and order Agitha to contact the Gohma, proposing to help them free Sulkaris in order to destroy the Kingdom.
Unknown to the Gohma, Akazoo plans to create an army which can withstand both the wrath of the First Sages and the Gohma - an army of the dead. Through hidden Sheikah knowledge, and the whispers from the Eye of Truth, he discovers the process by which Dethl hollows out its victims into Devoured and attempts to use a similar process to raise and command the dead.
The Return of Sulkaris[]
In 126 AG, Akazoo sets his plan to betray the Kingdom into motion. He commissions the Keaton robber baron Halthor to steal the Goronu, the artefact used by Ganondorf to raise the Stalfos in the Gerudo Wars, and has Azrily steal the Malmord, an ancient Sheikah pocket prison. Akazoo and Azrily use the latter device as part of ritual, granting them a crude form of immortality.
During the Royal family's summer vacation in Malkariko, he instructs Agitha to begin mobilising the Gohma hives, though she warns him that the Gohma won't spare their lives even though they have aided them. Akazoo tests the effectiveness of the undeath ritual, impaling Azrily without any consequences, ensuring that Agitha's warning will not come to pass.
When the Gohma storm into Malkariko and overwhelm the garrison, Akazoo enters the room where the Princesses are residing. Oraiya asks him about the garrison's well-being, but Akazoo reveals his betrayal and proclaims his loathing of the Royal family. As he approaches, the Princess suddenly pulls out a knife and stabs Akazoo in the face, but Akazoo is utterly unconcerned, removing the knife along with part of his face and using it to stab Zelda herself.
Discovering Princess Zelda V hiding under the table, Akazoo chases her down while declaring that the Kingdom of Hyrule has fallen into complacency. She attempts to run away, but finds her exit blocked by Azrily, who imprisons her inside the Malmord.
Akazoo then leaves Agitha and Mido in charge of the Gohma while he and Azrily travel to Halthor's hideout in the Vigjaro Glade, intending to barter the captured Princess for the Goronu. However, when the negotiations are still underway, King Kazakk, Link and the Hylian army bring the fight to them.
Labeled a traitor by his former friend, Akazoo explains that he has discovered a conspiracy by the First Sages, and aided in releasing Sulkaris in preparation for an oncoming war against the Firstborn. Kazakk is not convinced, so Akazoo forcibly takes the Goronu from Halthor's hands and uses it to reanimate the Hylian dead buried under Vigjaro Glade's estate. Amid the fighting, Kazakk breaches the manor and engages Akazoo in a duel, but is nearly killed if not for an intervention by Link. Kazakk charges Akazoo through a window and impales him, and the two continue their battle outside, ending in Akazoo being decapitated by the Hylian King. With Akazoo dead, his Stalfos collapse back into inert bones.
However, as the result of the ritual he performed with the Malmord months prior, Akazoo manages to evade going to Termina and stay in Hyrule even after his initial death. His severed head is recovered by Azrily. The two run off, never to be heard from again.
Apocrypha[]
Though historians believe him to have died in 126 at the Harkinian Manor, more liberal interpretations claim the two truly had the curse of immortality. Moving to Faldoon, they established a base of operations and begun raising Stalfos, including at least two dragons and many dead which they robbed from their graves and defeated armies. With his body deterioating further, his mind became corrupted as well, and he slowly lost his sanity.
Several years after the end of the war with the Gohma, King Kazakk perished. Some sources hint at Akazoo's involvement, while others blame the Sheikah for it. Regardless, Akazoo is said to have returned to the public, with his face covered by a metal mask, hiding his injuries and deterioation. Using his marriage to both Princess Zelda IV and Agitha Hathen, he became a pretender for the throne among several others.
Akazoo, now the leader of the Stalfos later became a major figure in the War of Wrath, allying with the Gerudo, Lizalfos, Twili and several more while communing with the undead Bongo Bongo. However, their alliance is said to have fallen apart, culminating in a five-way battle in which Akazoo and his armies all ended up dead.
Quotes[]
- Sanity is for the weak I say.
- We now live in a society where all are brought down to the lowest level by each other, a society where reward is reprimanded out of jealousy, out of a sense of false entitlement. And yet, we live in a society of celebrities where those such as you are worshiped as an idol! As a god! Such hypocrisy! No little girl, I am giving these people what they crave. I am bringing them a world where all are truly nothing, and they never have to worry about defeat, about losing, about others rising above them in triumph. The people will they themselves never amount to anything, and all they will have to look up to is their self appointed false idol to grant them solace, me. But first, I need your gift.