- "I am King Atlus Arcadium Rex, first among the Cosmic Powers, God to the Gods, Slayer of Titans! If I wish these Reds and Blues dead, they are dead already!"
- —Atlus angered by the Reds and Blues in Headshots
King Atlus Arcadium Rex is the leader of the Cosmic Powers. He serves as a secondary antagonist in Red vs. Blue: The Shisno Paradox. It is later revealed that he, along with the rest of the Cosmic Powers are actually AIs created by Chrovos to manipulate other races by having them believe them to be gods.
Role in Plot
Atlus, on Starseeds, receives a message from Muggins regarding the beginning of the Pizza Quest. Subsequently, he calls together the Cosmic Powers in a meeting, including Burnstorm, his son Genkins, and his wife Kalirama, who informs the Cosmic Powers of her failed attempt to stop the Reds and Blues due to "His" protection. Atlus reveals that the Fates have been silent for some time, possibly due to inside interference, and declares that he will destroy the Reds and Blues himself.
Afterward, Atlus and Muggins find Tucker and Sister on Iris, and he attempts to smite them. However, he finds them immune to his power, apparently due to "His" protection. This protection does not prevent Atlus from unleashing Grog the Cyclops, his champion, to destroy them, but Tucker and Sister nonetheless manage to defeat the Cyclops and escape.
When Huggins returns to Atlus and the Cosmic Powers to ask them to give the Reds and Blues an audience, Atlus is initially outraged, but with some coercion from Kalirama he agrees to meet. On neutral ground, he leads the negotiations with Tucker, Sister and Grif, granting them three wishes, which are wasted on a new Sword for the latter. After agreeing to meet again and reuniting, the Reds and Blues (including Donut) travel to Starseeds to meet with Atlus and the Cosmic Powers themselves. Jax Jonez tries to follow them, but is smited by Atlus.
Atlus explains the history of the Cosmic Powers and, after Simmons deduces their true nature, reluctantly reveals that he and the other "gods" are in fact Artificial Intelligences created by the imprisoned Chrovos for an immense, unknown undertaking. The Cosmic Powers give the Reds and Blues their mission, to take The Hammer created by Burnstorm to Chrovos' prison and undue the damage their time travel caused, before sending them off to consider it; subsequently, however, Donut betrays the group and steals The Hammer.
Gallery
Trivia
- Atlus's armor consists of the Hellcat helmet and Achilles body armor.
- Atlus' role as leader of the gods, his lightning powers, his mountaintop palace on Starseeds and the Cosmic Powers' ancient war against the Titans and their creator/"father" Chrovos all connect him to the god Zeus in Greek mythology, who led the Olympian gods in a similar war against the Titans.
- Atlus' name, however, is derived from Atlas, one of the Titans.
- Chrovos is also based on Chronos, the personification of time, or Kronos, the leader of the Titans and Zeus' father, who himself was overthrown and imprisoned.
- According to Kalirama, Atlus likes to turn into a swan. Zeus allegedly used the disguise of a swan to seduce Leda (or, alternatively, Nemesis).
- It is revealed in A Time for Hammers that the Cosmic Powers' theatrics and apparent parallels to Earth mythologies are to some extent subjective, a smokescreen programmed by Chrovos to aid them in manipulating younger races.
- Atlus has two spies known as Huggins and Muggins, based on the Norse god Odin's two ravens Huginn and Muninn, making a further connection between the two.
- Kalirama is both Atlus' sister and his wife; historically, among polytheistic gods and pantheons, this sort of incest/marriage between siblings is not unusual.
- Atlus implies that he possesses immensely large genitals, calling Tucker "a man after [his] own heart" when Tucker wished for a 200-foot penis in Sword Loser.
- Part of Atlus' name, "Rex", means "King" in Latin.
- "Arcadium" is a pseudo-Latin word likely derived from Arcadia: a region in Greece that, in Greek Mythology, was the home of Pan, god of the wild, and was a harmonious wilderness untouched by man. The term has since been used to represent a paradise, similar to Shangri-La, The Promised Land, or Eden.