Corruption

Gender: genderless.

Corruption is not able to speak.

Origins: Corruption appears to have been born from the destruction caused by the Nephilim, but made real by the hatred and agony of the first Nephilim, Absalom, when he fell to Death's fatal stroke. After his defeat at his brother's hand in Eden, a black pool formed beneath him. While he lay dying, he was consumed by the pool, despite Death's attempts to pull him out. Now Corruption spreads throughout all Creation, seeking to undo the balance and plunge all of Creation into nothingness.

Darksiders Genesis: The earliest appearance of Corruption occurred in the time immediately following the battle for Eden and the fall of the Nephilim, taking the form of the abomination known as the Grinner. It's earliest victim was Astarte of the Faneguard and from her the madness spread to her subordinates giving rise to Corrupted Light Angel's which together with the Dark Angel's and the Undead Astarte raised proceeded to ravage Eden. Though Eden was cleansed of Corruption, the damage sadly was already done, Corruption had been born and from that point forward whenever any organism in Creation feels the encroach of madness, they risk becoming a well of corruption; spreading the black and yellow vitriol into the environment, and onto their fellows.

Rise of Corruption: It would take eons for corruption to firmament itself throughout reality, even after having subsumed the elder Nephilim Absalom. Despite its slow manifestation, Corruption managed to take root within one of the angelic warriors within Heaven's gates. An impressionable soldier belonging to The Hellguard, known as Makhala, would be the very first among many whom corruption would take root in. Its influence was initially weak as it took to the destruction of Eden to the rise of till the dawn of man and their civilization to properly take root within one of the angelic hosts. But eventually Makhala would succumb to its maddening influence. After having slaughtered many amongst Heaven's elite soldiers, one lone voice within the White City's garrison believed the perpetrator to have been an errant demon who had infiltrated it. The angelic soldier fled to Earth after the vexatious whispers spoke to her and culled her to descend to the Earthly plane. She set out to, in her own warped mentality, bring salvation to humanity by purging it of sin. Makhala then began her work by butchering thousands of humans, then tainting thousands more with her bane, whom went on to continue their mass killings by spreading her poison through tainted Crossblade Pendants carrying her defiling power. The Horseman Death had been secretly dispatched to Earth by her former commander to rectify the issue. After a brutal battle which claimed countless more lives. Death finally slew the deranged member of the Hellsguard in mortal combat; thereby stymieing the spread of corruption in the third kingdom indefinitely. It was there that legends of the Black Plague of France would spread far and wide across the Kingdom of Man, as did the religion consecrated by their deranged benefactor spring forth centered around the Crossblade. What the Pale Rider didn't notice in the aftermath of the battle, was that an individual corrupted human managed to give back his affliction to his would-be savior, which soon revived Makhala a scant few moments later.

Spread of Corruption: Corruption can spread in several different ways: in Realms that are already old and decaying, Corruption can manifest itself in physical forms outside living beings as yellow and black crystals and as black, tar-like liquid. This liquid is incredibly deadly, and even Death himself cannot survive prolonged contact with it. In places where the Corruption is particularly strong, it can even acquire sapience, such as in the Forge Lands. It can also affect living individuals, though initially, it seems to be able to do this only to beings already plagued by doubts or afflicted by madness. Initial symptoms appear to include paranoia and mood swings, and the individual may become inexplicably violent. Corrupt individuals appear to exhibit obsessive behavior, as they will often justify their violence with whatever creed or belief system they live by. The final step of Corruption of an individual is the physical manifestation of Corruption on their body appearing as a strange slimy black material, and in some cases the sprouting of yellow crystals along with black tentacles. The individual in question becomes completely insane at this point, as was seen with the Archon, and by the fact that Corrupt lesser Angels were willing to attack Nathaniel despite his status as an Archangel. Corruption does not need living things to spread itself as is seen with the Constructs throughout the Forge lands, and since Constructs have Souls of Makers within them, it could be suggested that Corruption only needs a soul and not a living body.

Darksiders III: Whilst on her journey for the Seven Deadly on Earth, Fury would encounter an inkling of the astrological taint in the form of Sycophants and the like skulking about the Third Kingdom's ruins. At the end of her story, Lucifer briefly mentions Corruption when meeting with Lilith, proclaiming that soon it would overtake all his rivals amongst Heaven, Hell and the Charred Council, leaving him the only one left standing. Unfortunately for Lucifer, Death would discover the threat of Corruption and put an end to it, thereby robbing Lucifer of the weapon he needed to take out his enemies.

The Destruction of Corruption: Since Corruption is a nearly unstoppable force, it cannot be destroyed easily as it spreads too quickly, though it does have weaknesses. However, only two of them are effective in combating it; powerful holy light and the death of the host. Shadow bombs can be used against it, but only to destroy the crystals from Corrupted structures. Holy light can destroy the black matter of Corruption, but usually the death of the Corrupted individual is the only way to end their Corruption. The only known individual to have recovered from Corruption was Jamaerah, though how this was managed is not revealed (it may have been a side effect of being blasted by his own holy light attacks).