Nemesis the Warlock

Nemesis the Warlock is a British comic series that was designed by author Pat Mills and illustrator Kevin O'Neill for British comic magazine 2000AD .

publication

The series began in 1980 in issue 167 of 2000AD with the comic Terror Tube , in which Nemesis is still a faceless freedom fighter in his spaceship, the Blitzspear, fleeing from the police. The great success was followed by a two-part sequel (Killer Watt) and Nemesis the Warlock was part of the weekly comics appearing in 2000AD, where the series appeared with a ten-year break from 1989-1999 and also produced numerous 2000AD crossovers and albums.

action

The plot of Nemesis the Warlock takes place in a distant future on earth and other parts of the universe and is about the struggle of very different freedom fighters, with Nemesis at the top, against the empire of Termight (mighty Terra), a xenophobic police state, which from Grand Master Torquemada is led to destroy all non-human life that the Empire encounters. There is both science fiction and fantasy elements in Nemesis .

Characters

Nemesis

Nemesis is a member of a species of demon-like aliens with a pointed, barely expressive, anchor-like head, horns and hooves, he can spit fire, and work all kinds of magic, such as changing his shape, influencing dreams or creating Illusions. In addition, Nemesis possesses the powerful sword Excessus, which he snatched from the rightful owner Sir Olric, who was commissioned by Torquemada with his search, after his murder. Nemesis fights as the leader of the resistance against Torquemada and his Terminators, and slowly changes from a moral hero to an antihero who sometimes does questionable things to achieve his goals. Ultimately, it turns out that Nemesis' fight is more for his own entertainment than the supposed noble motives.

Purity Brown

Purity is a person and member of the resistance around Nemesis, at whose side she fights until she is temporarily repulsed by his motives. Purity's father was sentenced to death for insulting the Grand Master in a dream.

Tomas de Torquemada

Tomas de Torquemada is the Grand Master of Termight, and leader of the Terminators, his goal is the annihilation of all non-human life, as well as all deviants who oppose him. Torquemada usually uses extreme violence and cruelty against his enemies, so it is not surprising that torture is an art to be studied in his realm and he tends to incarcerate his victims until he finds a truly appropriate, can devise a terrible punishment accordingly. The grandmaster is depicted as a muscular man with a menacing, pointed steel mask, which is reminiscent of the headgear of the Ku Klux Klan ; in later editions one can see that Torquemada hides a bald and angular skull under his mask. Torquemada is the reincarnation of the first Tomas de Torquemada as well as Adolf Hitler, he is partly immortal over sections of the series because he no longer rematerializes in a kind of teleporter accident , uses foreign bodies and even returns from the past after his death, one of A phrase he often uses is "Be pure be vigilant behave!" (Eng .: be clean, be vigilant, behave!)

Candida de Torquemada

Candida is the wife of Tomas de Torquemada and the mother of his two children. Because of the events on the show, and mostly the fact that she is married to Tomas, she goes mad for some time. Meanwhile, Tomas lovingly takes care of her, which seems to be in complete contrast to his nature.

Chira

The first consort of Nemesis and the mother of his son Thoth. Like all females of her species , her magic is more powerful than that of the males, and she has the appearance of a centaur-like version of the males. She dies from the intrigues of Magna.

Magna

The second wife of Nemesis. She lets Torquemada be informed about the whereabouts of Chira, and is therefore jointly responsible for her death. The reason for this is that it can take over Nemesis, and it also devours Grobbendonk. She is slain by Nemesis after he learns the truth.

Grobbendonk

Is a kind of worm-like cat creature with antennae and stripes, which first belonged to Nemesis' great-uncle, Baal, and which later becomes a pet of Nemesis himself. Grobbendonk speaks gibberish , a dialect of the fringe worlds, called "gibberish" in the original, which makes his utterances difficult to understand. He is eventually devoured by Magna.

Terminators

The Terminators are the fanatical followers and the army of Torquemada, they wear different forms of threatening steel masks and move through space in search of alien life, which they strive to destroy. The terminators are divided into seven chapters with their own bizarre rituals. The Terminator's masks are occasionally forged from the steel skin of lightning spears that they leave behind after molting.

Blitzspear

The Blitzspear is the living spaceship used by Nemesis and his species. The Blitzspear is not built, but has to be tamed and "ridden to" in a kind of initiation rite until it submits to the new owner. Then it is framed with a metal layer to protect against injuries, which is then renewed every 100 years like a snake and is a popular raw material for terminator masks. The Blitzspear is very similar to the Warlock species, which is explained in the comic with the emergence from a common ancestor.

ABC Warriors

The ABC Warriors appear in some stories like "The Gothic Empire"; these are robot soldiers from the series of the same name, which was also published by 2000AD and invented by Pat Mills. Mainly Hammerstein, Ro-Jaws and Mek-Quake appear, but the rest of the characters can also be seen. The ABC Warriors help Nemesis in his fight against Torquemada, with the exception of Mek-Qauke, who first works with the Terminators and then finally changes sides when they are losing.