Abgal

CHARACTER
Abgal
Gender	Male
Death	October 23, 1937 Colosseum, Rome, Italy
Nationality	Roman
Profession(s)	Gladiator
Allegiance(s)	Nephilim Order Magnopotamoi Emperor Nero

"«Death and honor!»"

―Abgal to Indiana Jones.

Brother Abgal, nicknamed "The Monster of Crete" after the legend of the Minotaur, was a large and imposing member of the Nephilim Order, a monastic group of giants working in partnership with the Vatican trying to protect the mystery of the Great Circle and atone for ancestral sins dating back to human prehistory.

For reasons unspoken, however, Abgal deviated from their mission and joined the Roman court of Emperor Nero as the champion of his gladiatorial games, never losing a single battle and surviving in secret well into the 20th century until he was awakened by the fanatical Orlando Ricci and archaeologist Indiana Jones.

Biography

Arrival in Rome

"«Die before the gods and crowds!»"

―Abgal to Indiana Jones.

In the 1st century AD, Abgal arrived in Imperial Rome with two others of his kind aboard a boat. He was a member of the Nephilim Order, a tribe of giants who sought to atone for their ancestors' involvement in the Great Flood some tens of thousands of years before the time of Jesus Christ. The Nephilim met with Saint Peter and formed a secret alliance with the Vatican to protect the world from mankind's meddling with seventeen stones connected to the prehistoric cataclysm.

Around that time, however, Abgal came into contact with Emperor Nero. Enraptured by his immense size, Nero recruited Abgal, whether by choice or coercion, as a gladiator for the games he held in the Italian capital. Becoming a local celebrity known as "The Monster of Crete", the Nephilim's identity was disguised by a helmet fashioned over three months in the shape of a bull by the Greek metalsmith Theodorus of Alexandria. Abgal engaged in multiple gladiatorial contests including the Games of Mercury held on the Ides of March and never lost a single fight for Rome's sovereign, who reigned from 54 to 68, making even the most seasoned opponents tremble before him and beasts like lions reportedly resisted even entering the arena in his presence. Whenever he didn't fight, Abgal would rest inside the Tauroctony Chamber, which was behind the cages for the enslaved animals and gladiators, with the Cult of Mithras member Quintus being in charge of choosing the men who would guard Abgal's chamber. He evidently continued his role as the Imperial champion for Nero's successors throughout the construction of the Colosseum.

Whereas Gibborim fell in the Battle of La Forbie and Junia passed away before the 16th century's close, Abgal survived beneath the amphitheater, neither dying nor entombed but resting on a throne inside the Tauroctony Chamber, maintaining a hibernation-like sleep-"Semper vivus", always living-for centuries beyond what was known as the "Monster's Gate", for which a cylinder roll known as the Arcanum Tripartitus was key to unlocking it.

Encounter with Indiana Jones

"Not dead. Sleeping. He's not in a tomb."

―Indiana Jones

As the 20th century approached, while the rest of his brethren had kept to protecting the Great Circle and related secrets including the Nephilim Order's membership, surviving accounts about Abgal merged his known history and celebrity with the Minotaur legend with some more fantastical examples claiming that he actually possessed the head of a bull. By the late 1930s, Father Orlando Ricci, a conservator for the Vatican with a consuming interest in Roman occultism, was in a position to pull on a thread unravelling the anonymous giant's background. However, Ricci was secretly the leader of the revived Mithraic cult and was convinced that what was hidden under Rome was the sacrificial bull needed to summon their ancient Roman god down from the heavens to bestow enlightenment.

On October 23, 1937, Father Ricci discretely managed to convince archaeologist Indiana Jones, who was at the Vatican looking for a Cat Mummy, to assist him in his search for Abgal while being on the run from Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and the Blackshirts after being expelled from the Vatican grounds by Father Cesare Ventura following the disappearance of the Golden Dagger of Mithras from the Vatican Museums (which he had actually stolen to conduct his ceremony). Once Jones found the necessary pieces in Gibborim's helmet, Junia's Tomb and the Cloaca Maxima to form the Arcanum Tripartitus to open the "Monster's Gate", Ricci revealed his true colors and locked him on his office beneath the Palazzo Ricci, but Jones managed to escape and defeat all of his cultists before making his way into the bowels of the Colosseum, where he opened the "Monster's Gate" with the Arcanum Tripatitus and gained access to the dark Tauroctony Chamber holding the motionless Abgal hidden behind his bull-shaped helmet. It was at that moment that Ricci appeared from behind and knocked Jones to the ground, refusing to let anyone else slay the animal. However, Abgal began to rouse as Ricci declared his success and caught the priest's arm when he tried to stab him with the Golden Dagger, proceeding to rise, lift Ricci off the ground and snap his neck. Spotting the recovered Jones, a satisfied Abgal relished the opportunity of engaging in combat with someone else and walked to a lever that closed off the Tauroctony Chamber before the American could crawl back to safety and the pair were carried up into the ruins of the now-empty Colosseum.

Sheathing the Golden Dagger of Mithras and pounding his chest like a gorilla, Abgal roared triumphantly to the long-gone crowd of the amphitheater, then grabbed a spear and demanded death and honor from Indiana Jones, tossing him the weapon. They proceeded to engage in a fight that Jones barely managed to win, using his wits and bullwhip to attack and disarm Abgal by dismantling his armor and injuring his body with the spears and tridents he found scattered about in the area. Finally bested, Abgal knelt in defeat and Jones took away his helmet, asking if he had had enough. Abgal asked for Jones to accept his respect, to which Jones quipped that he didn't have enough strength for another round either. Suddenly, Abgal took the Golden Dagger and slashed at the archaeologist, who avoided the attack and blindsided Abgal with his own helmet, calling him out for his underhandedness and taking the dagger for himself. Unmoved, Abgal got up again and pulled out the lever to attack Jones, but the platform proved unstable as a result and came apart, sending Abgal plummeting back into the Tauroctony Chamber to his death.

Personality and traits

"«Accept my respect, warrior.»"

―Abgal to Indiana Jones

While a large and imposing figure of three meters due to his unusual background, Abgal deviated from the Nephilim Order's mission to focus on competition, initially as a fighter in Emperor Nero's gladiatorial games then at events held at the Colosseum, demanding of his opponents that they die for the pleasure of the gods and crowds. Thanks to his inhuman abilities as a giant, with which he had the strength to crush the skulls of his opponents unarmed, he never lost a single contest until he encountered archaeologist Indiana Jones on October 23, 1937. Jones barely managed to defeat him with his bullwhip, using it to disassemble Abgal's armor to expose something he could hit, a tactic Abgal hadn't accounted for, telling the evasive individual that the non-existent crowd had paid for blood not tricks. The giant feigned acceptance and respect upon being bested, only to try to attack Jones once he turned his back but was blindsided by the archaeologist and removed from the amphitheater by the collapse of the arena floor.

Behind the scenes

Abgal is a character developed for the DLC story expansion for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle titled "The Order of Giants". His inclusion was foreshadowed by the press release's statements of Indiana Jones having to face off against foes in "Emperor Nero's secret gladiator games".

Abgal is a Sumerian term that translates to "wise" or "sage" and is associated with a race of demigod sages who were eventually made mortal following the deluge of Sumerian myth and are sometimes depicted as half-animal humanoids. It can also refer to a pre-Islamic Arabic deity.

Appearances

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – The Order of Giants (First appearance)

See also

• The Minotaur hoax of 1936