Who were the Necromongers in "Riddick" really? Their story is much more interesting than shown (14 photos)

The Necromongers are one of the most striking and recognizable images of the Riddick franchise. Mighty and deadly conquerors with their strange and sinister philosophy, who captured entire worlds and whom no one could resist for many years.





The history of this race was partially revealed in the film "The Chronicles of Riddick", but in fact it is much deeper and more interesting. Before meeting Riddick, the Necromongers had already come a long way, full of loss and pain, and even after the encounter with the legendary Furian, their story did not end.

In this article, I propose to analyze together the history of the Necromongers - the secret of their appearance, epic leaders, meeting with Riddick and their further fate, which (small spoiler) is now at an interesting crossroads.

So, let's fly!



The Origins of the Necromongers and the Core of Their Philosophy





The Necromongers traced their origins to the Brotherhood of Asters, an isolationist, monotheistic religious group.

The Asters sought to stay away from other human worlds, which they found corrupt. Making long journeys in ships with conventional engines, they lost many to the rigors of the journey. But eventually the Asters landed on a planet and colonized a world they called Haven.

Soon after settling on Haven, dissension arose among the Asters Brotherhood when Kovu, a prominent scientist and philosopher, began to preach the radical idea that there might not be one God, but as many Gods as there were "universes."

For this position, the leaders of the Brotherhood, the Ascetics, persecuted Kovu. When he refused to recant his views, the Ascetics tortured Kovu. Day and night, they brutally abused him, and by the time he finally escaped, Kovu no longer felt pain; his nerves were dying and his skin was turning pale from months of darkness and isolation.



Resigned to the fact that Kovu would not renounce his beliefs, the Asters soon turned their wrath on his family, tormenting them as brutally as Kovu himself before ending their lives in front of a distraught Kovu.

Kovu would have died at the hands of the Asters as well, if not for a few followers who helped him escape from prison with the bodies of his wife and children.

The outcast Kovu wandered the void in a stolen ship, mourning his misfortune and wanting only a second chance: to see his wife to kiss her, to see his children to love and hold. It was said that his sadness was so deep that even the stars seemed to fade as he gazed upon them, lifeless as he was.



It is unclear how long he traveled the void, but eventually Kovu discovered a mysterious rift in space and time that tore through the veil separating one world from another. Although Kovu did not know it, this was the Threshold itself, the gateway to the Nether.

With the bodies of his wife and children in tow, Kovu crossed the Threshold.

Kovu returned just minutes later. But something about him had changed: he had aged noticeably, and his eyes glowed with newfound power. He was stronger, faster, and far wiser than he had been just moments before, and he boarded the ship to tell a wondrous tale.

Kovu claimed that his family had risen from the dead and were once again walking the world beyond the Threshold, in a magnificent place he called the "Netherworld." There, he said, he had lived with them for countless eons, until he was finally forced to return to finish what he had started.

With fantastic new powers, Kovu exacted his righteous vengeance on Asters. He playfully killed their commanders one by one, whispering to each one, "You get what you kill."

Kovu - Founder and Ideologist of the Necromonger Empire



After his victory, Kovu assumed the new position of "Lord Marshal." Forcing the survivors to bow before him and swear eternal loyalty, Kovu reorganized the last of the remaining Asters into a more orderly, if not yet military, society.

Kovu called this new ideological order "Necroism." As a powerful testament to this, and in gratitude to the gods of the Underworld, he ordered one of his closest confidants, Oltov the Builder, to build a massive Necropolis, their most sacred hall, atop the highest mountain on the surface of the Vault.

Kovu saw the beauty of the Nether with his own eyes. It was so breathtaking that he decided that all life was a mistake that needed to be corrected. The natural state was death and what came after.



Kovu and all his followers were also part of this "great mistake", but having seen the truth, they were obligated to remain alive until the known world was cleansed of human life.

A few years later, Kovu chose a successor. It was Oltovm the Builder, the officer who laid the first and last stone of the Necropolis. Oltovm went with Kovu back to the Threshold. It was a difficult journey, lasting several months, but eventually the Threshold was found.

Kovu and his successor went there, but only Oltovm returned, becoming the new Lord Marshal. Kovu remained in the Netherworld forever. And his brainchild, the Empire of the Necromongers, was destined for great things.

Subsequent Great Leaders of the Necromongers



At the beginning of the Second Regime, disagreements arose among the Necromongers. How could reproduction be allowed in a faith dedicated to unlife? The solution was to forbid all reproduction.

This ban led to the inevitable conclusion that their movement would end with the death of the current generation. Oltovm was no longer young, and the construction of the portal at Porog had taken him many years. However, he was committed to the idea of giving the Necromongers the greatest army they had ever seen.

The need for manpower was enormous. The task of meeting this need fell on the shoulders of an ardent young commander full of faith, named Beylock. He was an ardent follower of the teachings of Kovu.

New resources were needed to build the armada, and Beylock provided them in no time, conquering and enslaving worlds. It was to him that the Necromongers owe their first military armada, which arose from the Vault and set out to conquer all life.

Oltovm chose his successor, and then, like his predecessor, he too "passed away".

Nafemil the Navigator became the third Lord Marshal of the Necromonger Empire. He was the father of Necrophilosophy. Early in his reign, he ordered the excavation of the Necropolis and its placement on a great ship, the Basilica, so that the first church of Necroism could travel with its adherents to the stars. After his death, he was succeeded by Baylock the Cruel.

Baylock the Cruel was the fourth Lord Marshal of the Necromonger Empire. He was the last to be born into Necroism, as soon after his birth, the Necromongers' primary method of reproduction became the forced "conversion" of conquered peoples. During his reign, the enslavement of planets became the norm.

Krill was the fifth Lord Marshal of the Necromongers. He founded the Order of the Half-Dead during the conflict with the Cartodox. He was succeeded by Zhilo the Last.

The Necromongers meet Riddick



The Necromonger Empire advanced from world to world, leaving only death in its wake.

The defeated were given a simple choice: undergo a ritual of "conversion" that would turn them into Necromongers, or die.

During this expansion, the Necromongers once encountered another militarized religious race, the Cartodox. A major war broke out between them, from which

The Necromongers barely emerged victorious.

The sixth Lord Marshal of the Necromongers was eventually Gilo, the main antagonist of The Chronicles of Riddick. He adopted his people's darkest philosophy for planets that did not want to side with them: infanticide. He was believed to be the last Lord Marshal, the one who would lead all the Necromongers through the Threshold to the glory of the Nether.



With the aid of an artifact from Helion Prime that contained the secrets of the Threshold and the Nether, Zhylo was able to use more abilities than his predecessors, making him one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, Lord Marshal in Necromonger history.

As a young man, Zhylo attacked the world of Furia because of a prophecy that one day a Furian would destroy it. Zhylo destroyed almost the entire Furian race, but one boy managed to escape.

He grew up and received the name Richard B. Riddick, became a wanted criminal, but one day his path crossed again with the Necromongers.



The Elemental race, the guardians of the world, recruited Riddick to fight the Necromongers. As a result, Riddick found himself in conflict with them, and when he learned his past, he himself decided to put an end to Zhilo.

In the final battle with the Lord Marshal, Riddick, losing, still managed in the end, thanks to the help of his beloved Kira and the intervention of Zhilo's commander named Vaako, to kill the Lord Marshal.

And since the Necromongers, since the time of their founder Kovu, lived by the principle "You get what you kill", Riddick, according to their laws, became the new Lord Marshal of a gigantic military armada built for one purpose - to conquer all worlds.

The Further Fate of the Necromongers



Fate played a cruel joke on the Necromongers. Their leader was a man who had no relation to their people at all, did not share their goals and philosophy, and at the same time was their enemy, since the Necromongers destroyed Riddick's homeland.

However, the Necromongers could do nothing about this - at least at first. Perhaps they expected that Riddick, having received the title of Lord Marshal, would take the new status seriously - pass through the Threshold, receive new opportunities and lead the Necromongers further.

But the cunning Furian had no intention of doing this. Moreover, he stopped the conquests of the armada. Instead, he simply began to lead the fleet back and forth through space, without attacking anyone. This continued for 5 years.

Of course, soon the Necromongers began to grumble and, despite their laws, try to overthrow Riddick. But the Furian proved to be incredibly strong and dealt with all the assassins sent to him



Eventually, Riddick agreed to hand over the title of Lord Marshal to Vaako, one of the most respected and renowned warlords of the Necromongers, in exchange for being taken to his home planet of Furia.

However, the Necromongers betrayed Riddick and dropped him off on a completely different planet, leaving him to die.

Vaako became the new leader, who, following the tradition of his people, went to the Threshold and entered the Nether through it. There, Vaako finally passed the initiation rite and gained the true powers of the Lord Marshall.

However, Riddick was able to survive again on the planet where he was abandoned. After that, he returned to the Necromongers to take revenge on Vaako and finally find out the coordinates of his homeland, but he did not find him - Vaako had already gone beyond the Threshold.

Right now, the film "Riddick: Fury" is in production about how the Furian gets to his home planet.



He won't be able to do this without the participation of the Necromongers, so most likely we will see these impressive warriors on the screens at least once more!