Dark Opal
63 years ago - Prince Opal is born to House Opal of Gemworld.
52 years ago - 11-year-old Prince Opal offers himself to the dark powers trying to control Gemworld, killing everyone within House Opal, forever becoming Dark Opal.
48 years ago - 15-year-old Dark Opal's sorcery creates his monsterous soldiers, including the greatest and most powerful among them, Granch.
36 years ago - 37-year-old Dark Opal's son Wrynn is born.
32 years ago - 31-year-old Dark Opal stages a coup against House Amethyst. Lord Garnet's forces are defeated, forcing him to retreat to the Stormy Garnet Peaks. Opal's forces raze House Amethyst, but cannot find the infant Princess Amethyst. Several other houses ally with him after the coup, including House Topaz, Emerald, & Turquoise. Prince Sardonyx kills his own father in exchange for becoming Opal's main lieutenant. Granch, seeing the aftermath of the war, abandons his role in the army and is imprisoned.
26 years ago - 37-year-old Dark Opal kills Lord Emerald for defying him.
21 years ago - 42-year-old Dark Opal's forces kill the Lord & Lady Turquoise.
17 years ago - 46-year-old Dark Opal's lieutenant Lord Sardonyx finds Amy Winston on Earth and returns her to Gemworld. She is saved by Granch & brought to House Amethyst. Wrynn captures her and attempts to steal her back, but he is tracked by Taffy, who is able to stop him with her command of a pack of Deathhounds. His forces continually track Amy as she quests across Gemworld to unite the noble houses.
16 years ago - 47-year-old Dark Opal offers the life of Lord Sardonyx to Otherworldly Entities in exchange for the destruction of the Diamond Temple. Citrina burna away most of her magical control holding a magical spell allowing Amy Winston and her allies to attacking the castle of Opal. He is defeated by the combined magic of all the collected houses.
We've gone on in a few different places about just how much the characters of Gemworld feel like they would have been an amazing collection of 80s era toys. There are so many characters here that would fit into that world effortlessly, but perhaps none of them so much as Dark Opal. He is such a classic 80s villain, cut right out of the same wildly over-the-top mold as Skeletor or Cobra Commander. This is is a villain for the ages.
Dark Opal's Comic HistoryFrom the very beginning of Amethyst's adventures in Gemworld, Dark Opal is set up as as classic, omnipresent villain whose influence is felt in every corner of the story. He's an evil sorcerer whose bid for power led him to kill Amy's parents and force Citrina to hide her on Earth, and who has ruled Gemworld for decades when she first returns.
The series did not skimp on making Opal a truely horrible guy; showing him rejecting his monsterous children and then wiping them out when they they tried to get revenge, using his magic to mutate Lord Topaz's father into a twisted undead monster that he has to kill, mysteriously killing Princess Emerald himself, and dealing with lovecraftian horrors for more power. He's openly abusive to his underlings, cruel to his followers, and just the absolute worst in every possible way. He's also constantly depicted as incredibly powerful. one of the greatest swordsman and sorcerers in Gemworld's history. In short, he is just a powerbomb of a villain. He is finally defeated thanks to the combined magic of all the houses in the climax of the original series. We would later learn that he was originally empowered as an agent of the ancient beings trying to claim Gemworld for themselves. |
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Our Dark Opal StorySo much of the narrative heavy lifting of the whole story of Gemworld is carried by Dark Opal. It's a classic fantasy trope; to begin with a great villain who puts everything in motion. There's nothing we really have to do here other than just let him happen; from his early origins accepting power from dark otherworldly forces, staging the coup against House Amethyst to become the ruler of Gemworld, killing the parents of so many of the future young heroes so that they will one day come together to oppose him.
We's actually going to make a few small changes to his story, replacing his adopted ward Carnelian with an actual biological son, Wrynn, who will one day become Mordru, one of the most powerful and dangerous sorcerers in history, a role that absolutely makes sense given his legacy as the son of this absolutely fantatic villain. |