Apokolips

Hunger Dogs

Hunger Dogs are the refuse and lifeblood of Apokolips. Outnumbering all other creatures, they could easily rise up and crush the forces that hunt them, but the Hunger Dogs are ruled by fear. There daily lives are filled with misery, violence and a constant search for food, water and shelter. Hundreds are killed everyday as subjects of new weapon tests. They are abducted by the dozens from their filthy homes and streets to be brainwashed into bloodthirsty guards and troops. These poor souls are forced to devote their lives to a master who thinks less of them than the machines that kill them.

A brief History

Long ago, the old Gods of the universe unwittingly caused there own destruction. By discovering the secret of the Anti-Life Equation they hoped to rid themselves of a nearby alien nation. Instead they released an energy so powerful that it destroyed everything in it’s wake. A whirling storm of energies was born, and out of this, two planets were formed.

A special breed of beings lived on these two worlds, beings of great power and greater destinies. They were New Gods.

The first planet, called New Genesis, was green and peaceful. The second was Apokolips, a dismal and brutal world. For ages, the two distinctly different planets developed, each unaware of the other’s existence.

On New Genesis, a beautiful golden city known as Supertown was erected, leaving the perfect, natural balance of the surface world untouched. The beings there were both powerful but noble, led by Izaya the Inheritor. These New Gods desired only happiness and freedom for all.

On Apokolips, schemes of power and destruction were crafted almost as quickly as the war machines that would carry them out. Enslavement was the backbone of the society. The Queen, Heggra, was second only to her son, Darkseid, in lust for power and domination.

In time, the two worlds became aware of each other. Opposite personalities clashed, and tension ran high. The days of peace among the New Gods would forever end.

Apokolips an overview

The planet itself is comprised of a single industrial complex, dotted with roaring fire pits (constantly erupting molten fire and heat from the centre). Every aspect of the planet is devoted to a war that can be waged on a universal level. Training, constructing, maintaining instruments of war, whether it be against the heroes of Earth or the inevitable war with New Genesis that will end this age of Gods. As such, Apokoliptian technology is considered the most dangerous in the entire universe, and has been the cause of innumerable suffering and misery.

The general population is comprised by of a broken, submissive people known as Lowlies. Many of the Lowlies were captured from conquered or destroyed planets. The fighting forces of Apokolips are the Parademons. These brutes are equipped with armour and weapons forged in the pits of Apokolips. The most feared fighting force of all the New Gods, are The Furies. The Female Furies are trained to be the personal guard of Darkseid. Lastly there are Darkseid's Elite, akin to a King's Court. These include Kanto (master assassin), Granny Goodness (Headmistress and leader of the Furies), Kalibak (Son of Darkseid), Steppenwolf and Virmin Vunderbar (Master General’s) and Desaad (Torture expert and counsellor who manages the day to day operations of Apokolips)

The Fire-Pits

Fire pits, or energy pits, of Apokolips provide the planet with its power. These huge furnaces, each taller than a skyscraper and wide enough to engulf a spacecraft, burn from a radioactive core. The fire is fed by all of the refuse of the planet, the majority of which is scrap metal from ruined buildings and destroyed machines.

Molten slag collects below the edge of the pit, draining into the planet's underground like a burning sewage system. The fire-pits deposit the slag into the furnaces of the Apokolips mines, where the metal is recycled into new material for machines. The few objects that can survive the heat will be recovered underground or by local Hunger Dogs fishing with special equipment on the edges of the pits.

A Rough Guide To The Dark Gods of...

Armagetto

Armagetto, the planet's capital, is the most dangerous area of Apokolips. This dismal metropolis holds the Tower of Rage, Granny Goodness' Happiness Home, dozens of installations, and the largest concentration of Hunger Dogs on the globe. The main structures reach six hundred feet or higher, built with metal sides like a crowd of steel monoliths. Armagetto is heavily polluted from the local factories. Thick clouds float along the top levels of the buildings, obscuring vision and clogging the lungs of Parademons.

The main avenue of Armagetto is over a mile long and hundreds of yards wide. One side, where a giant steel wall stands, has the name "ARMAGETTO" painted down the street's length. This strip is continuously full of activity, usually with troop exercises, stray Hunger Dogs, or maintenance on security machines.

Security measures are extremely tight due to the presence of two buildings at either end of the avenue. At the edge of one end is a high, barbed-wire wall with a single gate. This passage is the only obvious access to the Tower of Rage, located on the other side of the wall. This giant, steel fortress and central tower (designed in Darkseid's likeness) makes it seem as though the Destroyer himself is forever watching the activity of his world from this perch.

At the opposite end of the avenue looms Granny Goodness' Happiness Home. Before it lies a series of twisting alleys and minor, cluttered roads, which weave their way out into the rest of Armagetto. After travelling about a quarter of a mile through the maze, these alleys come out of the ruins into a giant, shallow crater. In its centre stands the Happiness Home, a castle-like structure with large ramps leading up to its doors.

To complement these ominous features, there are many other lesser, though often fatal, points of interest. A Fire-pit, located just one mile away from the main avenue, is positioned between the Tower of Rage and the Happiness Home. All other Apokolips features are represented in Armagetto, including six large factories, the planet's deepest mines, many secret science installations, and a number of well-hidden rebel bases.

The Happiness Home

The Happiness Home is a rectangular fortress is built on a solid rock base in the centre of a shallow crater. It is over 200 feet high and a training school of sorts.

It is an "orphanage," whether the methods of testing, training, selection, punishment, and improvement are extremely brutal and damaging. Granny's trainers can take a common, sickly Hunger Dog and turn him into a first-class foot soldier, totally devoted to Darkseid's rule, in just over a week. There are many other orphanages of this kind on Apokolips, but the Happiness Home is the largest.

The Tower of Rage

This is Darkseid's home and throne; it is a massive metal structure that dominates the landscape. The entire planet is monitored from this building, while great schemes of suffering are devised for the rest of the galaxy.

All residents of the Tower are completely brainwashed. Thanks to Desaad's special torture techniques, none of the guards, scientists, technicians, or operators (DRONES) has free will. Darkseid's desires are relayed by a public address system within the complex.

Denizens Of Apokolips

Parademons

Parademons are the personal shock troops of Darkseid of Apokolips. They are genetically created in Apokolips' laboratories and serve as his loyal army. Some Parademons are bred from human stock, culled from the lowly Hunger Dogs that reside in the Armagetto district of Apokolips. Ironically, the Parademons are primarily used to quell Hunger Dog uprisings.

Dog Cavalry

The Dog Cavalry is one of Darkseid’s most prized military divisions. It is a special shock troop division of the infantry, used for invasions on other planets and defence against heroic intruders.

Military Of Apokolips

Justifiers

The Justifiers are warriors sometimes used as militaristic forces in the legions of Apokolips, powered by nothing supposedly but the Anti-Life Equation itself. They are brainwashed people who were given Apokoliptian armour and weaponry. The brainwashing is usually accomplished by Glorious Godfrey.


Artemiz	Bernadeth	Bloody Mary	Gilotina	Knockout

Lashina	Mad Harriet	Malice Vunderbar	Speed Queen	Stompa


Gole	Jaffar	Kurin	Shaligo	Slig	Trok

Deep Six

At the bidding of their master, Darkseid, the Deep Six exist for the sole purposes of combat and terrorism in his name. All six fish-like members possess superhuman strength as well as the ability to breathe and function underwater. The team has been killed and subsequently been resurrected several times over the years, whenever Darkseid has use for them. The new members are actually "spawns" of the original, raised in birthing chambers.

Darkseid's Army

Darkseid’s army is the most brutal, active, and numerous of all the forces on Apokolips. For every ten ‘Hunger Dog’s’ there is a soldier. (In fact, every guard, Aero-Trooper, Parademon and Dog Cavalryman was once a Hunger Dog) A regular abduction of male “Lowlies” is made as Granny’s orphanages begin training on the newest arrivals.

Those that survive the violent conditioning form the ranks of the infantry (also known as foot soldiers). Those who have incredible endurance and fighting skill are given a chance to enter the Dog Cavalry or Aero-Troopers. Aero-Troopers who live through countless mid-air battles are blessed with the ultimate fighter conditioning: transformation into a Parademon.

The Special Power’s force is made up of people with super powers who can’t make it into Darkseid’s Elite. There are two groups that have distinguished themselves above all others “The Female Furies” and “Deep Six”.

Darkseid

The son of Yuga Khan and Queen Heggra, Prince Uxas, second in line to the throne of Apokolips, plotted to seize power over the planet. When his brother, Drax, attempted to claim the fabled Omega Force, Uxas murdered him and took the power for himself; transforming him into a rock-like creature, and taking the God name: Darkseid.

Darkseid is a master schemer, who rules with absolute power, using subordinates to do his dirty work. He searches for the Anti-Life equation a formula he believes will give him absolute power over the entire universe.

Darkseid's Elite

Darkseid's Elite, also known as Darkseid’s ruling Elite, are a handful of supremely powerful beings each with his or her own free will to wreak evil unless Darkseid intervenes. These include Kanto (Master Assassin), Granny Goodness (Headmistress and Leader of the Furies), Kalibak (Son of Darkseid), Steppenwolf and Virmin Vunderbar (Master General’s) Doctor Bedlam (Master Scientist), Glorious Godfrey and Amazing Grace (Master Manipulator’s) and Desaad (Torture expert and counsellor who manages the day to day operations of Apokolips)

The Female Furies

Led by Granny Goodness, the Furies are a special division of women in the special powers force fanatically loyal to Darkseid. Known for their cruelty, they serve there evil master and his dominion over Apokalips. The Furies are brutally trained and led by Granny Goodness, however, infighting among the Furies is commonplace, most typically to appoint a leader of the group.

Himon

Himon is a citizen of New Genesis who secretly lives on the planet Apokolips, which is ruled by Darkseid. He maintains an identity as a 'Hunger Dog', one of the lowest classes. He is an inventor and scientist and created the Mother Box, the semi-sentient computers that most New Gods wear. He also discovered 'Element X', which was used to create the mother box.