| “ | Curse you, Corvus! I curse you with all the despair of the lost cause! | ” |
—D’Sparil’s last words, Heretic II intro | ||
D'Sparil is an enemy encountered in Heretic, one of the three Serpent Riders, the final boss of Episode 3: The Dome of D'Sparil and the main antagonist of the game.
He is confronted at the end of The Dome of D'Sparil riding a Green Chaos Serpent. Once his mount has been defeated, D'Sparil fights his enemy using his own powers.
Background[]
| “ | From the East came the evil foretold by your forefathers: the three Serpent Riders, guardians of death everlasting. Their form was shrouded by black cloaks. Only their eyes were revealed; sunken with evil, dreadful intensity. As a sign of power they brought peace to the Eastern provinces. Those who believed in the sign created a temple in their honor; and it bore the mark of the crossed trident. Their worshipers were the Order of the Sign; blind followers, without will, void of spirit. As the power of the Order grew, even the seven kings of the Earth followed like cattle behind them. And after they controlled the great nations two Riders left the world. Only D'Sparil, the weakest of them remained while his disciples traveled the earth cleansing it in preparation for its descent. | ” |
—Heretic manual | ||
His heart appears in Hub 1: Bright Crucible and then reappears in Hub 2: Constable's Gate. Since Praevus planned to harness his power, he has a monochrome portrait in the last level of Tulku.
Physical Appearance[]
In Heretic, D’Sparil wears a red robe with golden patterns and horned shoulder plates. His hood obscures most of his face except for his reddish eyes, and he speaks English backwards. His weapon is a golden trident, similar to the symbol stretching vertically across the front of his robe.
He reappears in Heretic II for the introduction, and his appearance is quite similar, with some subtle differences. The trident pattern on his robe has been flipped vertically, and his shoulder plates have fewer horns but a more metallic texture. He also wears a metallic belt with a skull symbol on it, and there is a metallic accessory on top of his hood. His face is still obscure, but his eyes are blue. His English is also unreversed.
Attacks & Strategy[]
| “ | Surrender to D’Sparil. | ” |
—D’Sparil’s active sound (played backwards) | ||
- Lightning Bolt
D'Sparil launches a bolt of lightning at which travels forwards rather fast.
- Teleport
D'Sparil teleports between certain areas of the arena, the more damaged he is, the more eager he becomes to teleport, making landing shots more difficult as the fight progresses.
- Summon Disciples
D'Sparil summons two of his Disciples to aid him in combat. D'Sparil can seemingly summon as many Disciples as he pleases, filling the entire arena with them as the battle wears on.
| “ | The raven shall chew your flesh. | ” |
—D’Sparil’s alert sound (played backwards) | ||
D'Sparil himself is a tough enemy, with a fast and damaging attack and more resilient than even the Maulotaur, however his ability to summon a seemingly endless number of Disciples to aid him in combat is what makes this battle very difficult. Very quickly the arena will be an ocean of Disciples, all firing their attacks together and it becomes a true struggle of survival getting by the Disciples, avoiding their attacks and chasing D'Sparil, trying to land as many hits as possible before he teleports away.
Gallery[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The name "D'Sparil" almost certainly comes from one of id Software's earliest games, The Catacomb; level 12 of this is called "The Tomb of Desparil".
- His voice actor in Heretic is uncertain, but he is voiced by Wally Wingert in Heretic II.
See also[]
| Heretic - Enemies | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Gargoyle • Fire Gargoyle • Golem (Ghost) • Nitrogolem (Ghost) • Undead Warrior (Ghost) • Disciple of D'Sparil • Weredragon • Sabreclaw • Ophidian • Chicken | ||
| Boss | Iron Lich • Maulotaur • Chaos Serpent • D'Sparil | ||