Collapsal
| Race | Enemy | Trivia |
| “ | Lifeforms observed on the endless icefield. Their appearance immediately interferes with the basic laws of reality and cognitive thinking. Huge bands of Sami warriors have been fighting against them for generations. | ” |
| —Loading screen tip in Expeditioner's Joklumarkar |
Collapsals, called Andskotarnir (ᚨᚾᛞᛊᚲᛟᛏᚨᚱᚾᛁᚱ)[note 1] by the Samifjod, are a collective term for various malevolent extradimensional entities in the world of Arknights as well as entities overtaken by their influence.
The Terrans often called Collapsals Demons,[1][2] which can led into confusion with the Sarkaz who are sometimes referred to as "demons" in a derogatory sense. Other terms are used as well like Hollows,[3] Wicked Spirits,[4][5] and Poltergeists.[6]
Overview
The unexplored borders of Terra in the north and south are inhabited by various entities that remain unknown to the civilized world, and are considered alien to Terra itself, hence being named "Collapsals" by Columbian researchers who studied them extensively through modern science. They are classified as simultaneously having real and irreal bodies, and it is uncertain if they exist in a conventional sense, with reports noting that they seem unable to interact with the physical world if not being directly perceived or observed;[7] they have been tenuously described as having many strange, grotesque features, such as numerous structures resembling "limbs" and "eyes", and black, foggy, formless bodies.[8] They are considered an infohazard who can gain power and manifest themselves simply by being known, and can seemingly prey on strong emotions such as fear, hence why all Terran nations heavily suppress the passing down of knowledge regarding them, with only the highest authorities of their nations permitted to be aware of their existence.[1]
Collapsals are known to exhibit a certain degree of reality warping and space-time manipulation, in part due to being considered "antithetical" to existence itself; in their presence, conventional physics and understanding breaks down, causing inexplicable phenomena, most commonly in the form of severe physical or cognitive distortion on a widespread scale, often referred to as Collapse Paradigms.[9] In addition, Collapsals and those corrupted by them can spread a form of pitch-black "contamination", believed to be a result of their projection onto physical space overwriting normal matter.[10]
Although Collapsals do not appear to follow biological or even logical behavior, such as lacking the need to hunt or feed, they are extremely hostile, and will attempt to latch onto and transform both living and inanimate objects even if unprovoked.[7] Collapsals will prey upon their victims through many supernatural methods like mind control, hallucinations, and mirages amidst a blizzard. Entities exposed to Collapsal pollution can also undergo physical and mental corrosion, up to and including total loss of emotion and ego death, while awareness of a Collapsal is sometimes sufficient enough to invite corruption.[11] Individuals who have fully succumbed to Collapse will not only lose all sense of self and become indiscriminately violent, but can also further spread contamination, both through their presence and if another individual contacts or consumes parts of them.
The Collapsals' origin remains unclear, but they are said to came from interdimensional rifts across Terra, most notably a wormhole opened by "The Door" in the Infy Icefield, close to the tundras of Sami.[3] In his studies into the "Void" on the other side of reality, or Kargereich as the Leithaniens call it, the Witch King discovered massive Collapsal presence in the dimension, and dedicated much of his efforts into holding them at bay, suggesting they may originate from this space.[12] It is even believed that the Collapsals may be the probes or vanguards of an extradimensional invasion of unknown origin.
Signs of presence
The signs of Collapsal presence can be indicated by the following phenomena:[7][13]
- Blooming plants with no visible roots, especially in the form of flowers. These actually act as anchor points for the Collapsals and can pollute the surrounding area with their influence if not contained.
- Pitch black snowfall or the sudden appearance of black fog, a sign of their psychic pollution in certain areas.
- Objects resembling human hands such as the Frozen Claw.
- Phantom-like beings such as those resembling the Ursine Emperor's Blades.
- Blackness that cannot be observed through photography or other optical instruments.
Victims of Collapsal corruption can be noted by the following traits:[7]
- Bodies having black patches and being hollowed (i.e., an absence of organs).
- Black blood oozing out from their bodies. Sometime stronger entities also produce black snow or fog in their surroundings.
- Literal walking dead with abnormal behavior such as extreme convulsion and uncontrolled speed.
- Faces becoming literal black holes that do not reflect visible light.
Relationship with humans
Since the birth of civilization, mankind has been keeping the Collapsals from invading Terra through their warriors and fortresses stationed at the frigid Infy Icefield and the arid Foehn Hotlands, such as "Emperor's Blades" – Ursine supersoldiers created with Collapsal shards and heavily armored Wendigo armies, Sami Snowpriests born of sacrificial rituals, Yan's most powerful elite Tianshi and soldiers assisted by the city of Yumen and the "Chamber of Heaven's Designs", and the undying Sargonian Zhayedans. The struggle reached its climax at the dawn of the common era a thousand years ago, in Terran year 15, during the world-wide conquest of the Nightzmoran Khagan who drove away all the Collapsals of the Hotlands, thus keeping the south from their presence forever, and set his eyes onto the north before disappearing into history.[14] However, these conflicts often came with a heavy cost such as huge casualties or regions being irreparably corrupted by the Collapsal influences.
In the modern era with thriving technologies, many nations still retain their ancient mindset regarding the Collapsals, except the Columbians who attempt to conduct experiments on them out of scientific curiosity. Nevertheless, without proper precautions, these experiments often end in tragic failures. One example is a research project done by Beachbrella where corrupted meat was fed to animals and resulted in their deaths, upon which they failed to contain the Collapsal pollution, almost leading to a disaster if it weren't for the interference of Typhon and a local Snowpriest.[7]
Notable
- The "Emperor's Blades" are created from shards of the Northland Collapsals. Their creation is shrouded in occult rituals and they need to wear specially designed suits to contain and stabilize the Collapsal shards. Losing control of the shards proves devastating as the Collapsal influence will lay waste to the surrounding area and corrupt the land for eternity, as the "Black Mark" can attest to.
Others
- Typhon's arrows are made of the polluted fragments of the Icefield Collapsals that are then restrained by ancient Sarkaz Originium Arts.[10] The combination of the two could easily "neutralize" the rampaging Collapsals.[7]
Note
- ↑ "Enemies" in Icelandic which has the poetic meaning as "devils"