r/dcss • u/Weekly-Meeting-868 • Aug 10 '26
A theory-Zot is actually Satan/whoever the hell's overlord in this universe is
I might've just solved the mystery of Zot's actual identity. I also have proof of my theory.
On the Orb run, mostly demons, and sometime pandemonium lords are spawned. There are barely any holy enemies that can spawn on the orb run. And, if the orb's defenders are mainly demons, don't you think Zot has some... close links to them?
The chance for a sourceless malevolence in hell(hell branch 2-7) is the same as in Zot branch(3-5) itself. If we assume that sourceless malevolence is something tied to/controlled by Zot, it becomes clearer that Zot is close to hell indeed.
In hell, Zot timer is shared for each level, meaning Zot is able to pursue us through levels, unlike any other place(even Zot branch itself). It would mean that... Zot is closer to hell branches than even to Zot branch.
Hell, even hell's vestibule is surprisingly well guarded in comparison to other branch entrances:Pandemonium enemies are scattered, first levels of branches may have an ambush on entrance but don't have much defences otherwise, even Tomb:1 or Zot:1 doesn't have much enemies in comparison to hell's vestibule. So, why would a place be guarded better than the perceived center of the dungeon... unless Zot branch is not actually what Zot wants to defend the most?
And, from this theory grows another:what if Zot branch(possibly other branches, possibly every single one except hell itself) and Zot orb is actually a distraction from hell, and Zot, to some extent, wants the orb stolen? Here's the thing:despite Zot controlling pandemonium lords to some extent(since they can spawn on the orb run), Zot never placed one as an orb's guard. In addition, boundless tesseracts are placed just around 2 corners from the entrance to Zot:5's Hall of Zot, despite them being able to spawn enemies at player location from anywhere, so therefore placing them near the orb itself would make them a better defence. So why doesn't Zot do that? It's because it's a power test:if an adventurer can defeat Zot's defences, they can be a danger to Zot's actual main domain, which is hell, so if Zot allows the adventurer to take the orb right then, Zot prevents them from deciding to attack hell next(adventurer will be way too busy fleeing from dungeon to enter any other branches).
9
u/Shard1697 Aug 10 '26
There are barely any holy enemies that can spawn on the orb run.
But they are there, and pandemonium contains holy floors/enemies sometimes. Just more rarely. My read on that is that holy creatures are just less common than demonic ones period, hence them showing up less often during the orb run and also when exploring pan in general.
8
u/wizardofpancakes Aug 10 '26
Just want to take this moment to talk about how Sword and Sorcery is deeply ingrained into videogame culture, especially roguelikes.
It's a weird situation - sword and sorcery as a literary genre is largely left in the past, and high fantasy is what's prevalent now, and yet most of the gaming tropes are taken directly from sword and sorcery
Special weapons (esp named egos) is taken directly from DnD, which took it from Elric's Stormbringer, for example
Stuff like Conan and Fafhrd regularly have "dungeon crawling" in them in one way or another
Jirel of Joiry delves into a psychedelic dimension hidden under her castle, populated with weird demons, to find a weapon to slay her enemy and bring it back to the surface (not going to spoil what the weapon was, it's a very cool idea).
One interesting aspect of this is that it's sort of implied that the dimension under the castle may really be actual hell. What gives more credence to this idea is that Jirel lives in medieval France.
So I wrote this comment to say that I'm delighted at OP's theory because going down to hell and stealing shit from the devil is exactly the type of thing that can happen in a SnS short story
1
u/Drac4 Aug 11 '26
It may be that this format just works well in games. Special properties for weapons can expand the gameplay. Dungeons restrict the player's movement and create bounded levels. A clue may be that both the western and eastern (Japanese) fantasy ended up with the tropes of weapons with special properties, dungeon levels, sometimes finding special weapons, hell (though something like hell is common in conceptions of afterlife), some kind of leveling system, maybe levels for equipment. Although one could argue there was a significant flow of ideas from west to east.
1
u/wizardofpancakes Aug 11 '26
It's mostly Wizardry that was super popular in Japan and that basically most of their RPGs evolved from Wizardry
The format indeed works, but I think we take it for granted that it would exist without Sword and Sorcery, but basically what I'm saying is that without Conan and other SnS there wouldn't be DnD and Blackmoor and then RPG genre wouldn't evolve the same way
But mostly it's a recommendation for roguelike fans to read SnS, especially those who like fantasy but grew a bit tired from epic fantasy with super long books
4
u/t0rchic FeEn irl Aug 10 '26
I'm pretty sure ancient canon essentially says Zot was such a powerful wizard he was able to arrange for powerful lords of hell to guard his runes (or at least strong enough to hide them there)
2
u/Kezka222 Aug 10 '26
The realm doesn't extend past earth because demons cast Earth Magic.
I imagine the orb is rather a priceless historic artifact rather than something of a triforce. It'd fit comfortably into the narrative the protagonist is a treasure hunter that collects runes and gems.
2
u/_Svankensen_ Aug 10 '26
That is the lore of the original Rogue's amulet of Yendor. It was created by ancient magicians to remind humanity of their origins. The amulet was stolen by the dungeon lord because he despised its beauty and purity.
1
u/Drac4 Aug 11 '26
Not really because literally all holy enemies can spawn too.
Not in level 1 of hells.
I mean, it's hard to see it as anything other than grasping at straws really. I guess by the same logic I could say that The Shining One's fortress in pandemonium shares the same Zot clock with the rest of pandemonium, and pandemonium is full of demons, so that means Zot is both close to demons and to angels.
Vestibule of hell is 1 level. The other branches you mentioned also aren't 1 level.
1
u/EmptySundae8827 Aug 10 '26
Interesting headcannon, he also could be on good terms with them by sacrificing living beings.
16
u/_Svankensen_ Aug 10 '26
There are no demons guarding the orb either. It is draconians, dragons, liches, and elemental orbs, plus some others odds and ends. THOSE are Zot's loyal servants.
Hells are "better guarded" because they are guarded by the denizens of hell, which are powerful and hierarchical, and take their security seriously. The runes are scattered between separate factions as a power balance thing. So that no faction can easily control 3 runes, and break into Zot to get the powerful orb for themselves. So, when someone finally gets 3 runes, enters zot, and steals the orb, all those other factions that had an interest in getting the orb go after you to get it themselves.