Sisyphus Prime

TYPE: PRIME SOUL

DATA:

Though Minos was intelligent and persuasive, he was also a gentle and noble man. Such values mattered little to Sisyphus, who would gladly lie, cheat or kill if that's what is needed to protect his comrades.

In a hubristic show of power, Heaven decided that the only correct punishment for his sins would be breaking his will by subjecting him to an unending and impossible task, unaware of just how tenacious the spite of man can be.

For thousands of years, Sisyphus bided his time, suffering his punishment day after day without any sign of regret or remorse, waiting for the perfect chance to strike and subvert Heaven's tyrannical rule.

With the Disappearance of God and chaos in Heaven, Sisyphus' time had finally come, and once the angels returned, they were met with a force and fury that had boiled in the hearts of men for millennia, a war-cry so fierce it shook the very foundations of Hell.

It was all for naught, however, as Sisyphus' charisma and drive had made his warriors dependent on his radiance and guidance. Although he did not know why yet, Gabriel recognized[sic] this flaw, having experienced it first hand, and ordered a focused assault to take down the king.

He unsheathed his swords for the first time since time immemorial and beheaded Sisyphus, displaying his head for all to see. The morale of Sisyphus' army was broken and the rest of the war was little more than a formality without their shining beacon.

The failure of the insurrection was no surprise however, and few knew that better than Sisyphus himself. He knew he was fighting a losing battle, that even if they miraculously survived this encounter, they had no chance of winning a full scale war against all of Heaven. Yet he thrust his full heart and soul into battle with a wide smile on his face.

To him, fighting an impossible battle with full knowledge of its futility and taking joy in just the act of resistance itself is the ultimate rebellion against the oppressor. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

STRATEGY:

• Sisyphus' relentless attacks leave little room to recover stamina, but many of them are parryable, allowing for an instant refill.

• The radiant power of the sun makes Sisyphus' explosive attacks very difficult to avoid, but since a dash gives temporary invincibility, good timing allows one to avoid the damage of an explosion without actually needing to escape its radius.

Considering that Sisyphus Prime was able to effortlessly tear his way out of the Flesh Panopticon, one must imagine that if Minos Prime were fully formed before being trapped in the Flesh Prison, that he could do the same. Sisyphus Prime says "Keep 'em coming!" after each restart, implying the knowledge of restarts. The only other characters that imply knowledge of restarts are the Mysterious Druid Knight (& Owl) and Sisyphus' ACT I counterpart, Minos Prime. It appears that Sisyphus, like Minos, was somehow able to perceive the events that were occurring within ULTRAKILL's world, despite being trapped in a prison for innumerable years. Sisyphus Prime's head is an opaque, radiant, glowing ball as opposed to his translucent body. This is likely due to his beheading at the hands of Gabriel during the war in Greed, and his soul mimicking his husk's appearance as it can be seen in the Chamber of the Feline and the Rodent in [ 4-4: CLAIR DE SOLEIL ]. Sisyphus Prime's boxer stance may suggest that along with having the incredible physical strength and speed of a Prime Soul, he is also a trained fighter. Sisyphus Prime is based primarily on Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" as opposed to the Greek Mythology interpretation. Sisyphus' blood-soaked legs and hands may reference the practice of his Insurrectionists to protect their limbs from the heat of Greed's dunes by soaking them in the blood of their enemies. However, this does not actually protect Sisyphus from hot sand, as he still takes damage.

The original concept art for Sisyphus Prime was made by BigRockBMP, and his model was made by ActionDawg. Sisyphus Prime is voiced by Lenval Brown, known for being the voice of the narrator in Disco Elysium: The Final Cut. His plushie within the Developer Museum plays a joke Sisyphus voiceline; with him saying "A Plushie? To hold ME?" followed by his maniacal laughter (albeit sped-up and at a higher pitch in-game). These voicelines can be listened to here. Sisyphus' "Mmmm..." voiceline when being parried was actually a recording of Lenval Brown clearing his throat. Given Brown mostly had experience in narration- not voice acting- many of his first-pass line deliveries were described as being "too polite and calm" and were subsequently rerecorded. Although, this sense of calmness was partly intentional; Sisyphus' character was meant to subvert the typical "loud, dumb warmonger" trope and instead come across as more patient and tenacious. Sisyphus Prime's moveset seems to draw inspiration from multiple martial arts. His pose when he performs "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" is a popular sumo stance, supporting the above bullet point thing. Before version 12b, Sisyphus Prime's attacks couldn't be parried upon reaching phase 2 on Violent, making the fight unreasonably difficult. This was an oversight on Hakita's part, since he and the playtesters tested this level on Standard difficulty.

Sisyphus Prime's boss theme is named "WAR" and can be found here. Sisyphus Prime's boss theme, in a similar manner to Minos Prime's boss theme using the Requiem motif from 2-2, uses the Sands of Tide motif from 4-2. His theme also uses the Unstoppable Force motif from 0-2/0-4 as well. "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE" is most likely a reference to Alex's Super Art 3 from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike; Stun Gun Headbutt. In terms of character model size, Sisyphus Prime towers over Minos Prime, who, when not counting his crown, barely stands up past his thighs. There has been some misconception regarding Sisyphus Prime's physique among the community as to say that it doesn't properly reflect how powerful he is. When in-fact, the bulky appearance of his body is very common for the physically strongest people in the world to have. Defined abdominal muscles are almost always a result of dehydration and are generally developed for looks. Sisyphus has a "power-lifter" body type, meaning that it is cultivated entirely for physical strength, with little attention being given to aesthetics. Sisyphus Prime's orange glowing motif most likely stems from him being exposed to GREED's harsh sun for millennia. It is also stated within his terminal entry that his attacks are explosive due to the "radiant power of the sun". Several of Sisyphus Prime's attacks can clip V1 through walls if next to one at a very specific position. If this happens and both V1 and Sisyphus fall into the void, both will respawn at the center of the arena. Before version 12b, Sisyphus would still give chase, even when out of bounds until his stamina depleted, resulting in him falling to a clumsy, painful death. Many of Sisyphus' attacks cause him to leave a trail of disturbed rubble behind him, implying he moves faster than you can see instead of teleporting, similar to Minos. If sanded and then unsanded (using the Alter arm) his head glow will bug out and become a large square. This glitch has been patched, sadly. Much like the other Prime Soul, Sisyphus' translucent body becomes invisible whilst underwater, aside from his circulatory system and face outline. The glow on Sisyphus Prime's head actually follows the player, not the camera. This can easily be observed by jumping around in Clash Mode. A puppeted version of Sisyphus that enters his second phase will have Sisyphus' main body appear over the puppet's body. This same bug occurs with any enemy that changes their texture, e.g. when they become enraged. Sisyphus Prime is the only Prime Soul not to have a bacteriophage named after him, as Minos Phrime is a direct reference to Minos Prime. This is real. Upon enabling the force bossbars cheat, his longer death animation will play as opposed to his shorter one. This property is shared with Minos Prime. Strangely, his monologue does not play when doing this.

Appearance: Sisyphus Prime is a muscular, luminescent humanoid. His golden translucent body gives a clear view of his circulatory system, which seems to be the only organs present, similarly to Minos Prime. His head is a sun-like ball of light, with his face only visible as a red outline in the light. His hands and feet are coated with blood akin to his followers. Upon entering his second phase, he gains a fiery red aura, limbs covered in more blood, as well as long hair and a full beard, suggesting his Prime form has further developed under the stress of combat.