How many Black Knights (Black Wings Generals) are there really?

If I've been doing my research correctly, the Black Mage has 7 chairs in his sanctum, representing 7 generals (as most likely the Black Mage has a throne of his own, and can communicate telepathically), or 6 Generals and the Black Mage himself.

So far, I know of four (note, any names and/or titles are madeup, bear with me):

Valfar the Demon Slayer
Orca the Black Sky
Von Leon the Volcanic Darkness
Akhyrum the Fang of Darkness


I also believe that Eleanor the Black Witch is at least up there with Orca in rank, or is her second-in-command.

Remember, technically Orca survived the battle against Mercedes (but whether she survived the Black Mage's anger is another story). Akhyrum is in the past trying to revive the Black Mage or his generals (where we're here to thwart his attempt).

Von Leon is slain by the bequest of his wife, so he's marked canonically dead after his encounter.

Valfar defected to the Resistance, due to his family being killed by the Black Wings (and we can somewhat assume he is/was a resident of Edelstein at some point.

Eleanor is slain by the Cygnus Knights, or at least escapes (and again, like with Orca, she may not live through the Black Mage's wrath).

Baroq and Francis, both underlings of Eleanor (and perhaps Orca as well) are eliminated (I believe Baroq is slain by Aran, canonically, and Francis I think is disposed of by Orca or Black Mage).

So do I have this right, save the parts I made up myself?

Demon Slayer and his family lived in Leafre. I would assume that Black Witch was a general, considering she was tasked with disposing of the entire Cygnus group.

There's supposedly another general named Gwar/Goire, according to speculation and data.


구와르의 흔적 (Evidence of Gwar/Goire)
군단장 구와르의 문양이 새겨진 나무토막이다. (General Gwar/Goire's mark/crest is carved into the wood slab)

The item is part of the Cross Hunter quest line. Teo from Lith Harbor finds it as peculiar driftwood and gives it to you for examination. After talking to Muirhat about it, you are sent to a room where you have to attack the piece. It breaks and spawns a bunch of;


구와르의 잔재 (Remnants of Gwar/Goire)

Valfar = Demon Slayer?

Forgot one.

Orca has a sibling named 스우 who is also a general apparently.
So you've got Orca, Van Leon, Akyrum, 스우, and 구와르의.

Black witch is dead.

Valfar = Demon Slayer?

I made the name up. It has no relation whatsoever to that pathetic donkey we farm our class hats from.


EDIT - So from what I got via Google Translate, 스우 is Seuwoo, which would be translated as Suoh. We don't know where her affinity lies, so we'll just give her a ??? for a title. As for Goire, we'll assume he's of the Terra affinity, so for all purposes and intents, we'll refer to him as Goire of the Decayed Earth.

So that leaves us with this:

Valfar the Demon Slayer
Orca the Wing Master
Von Leon the Volcanic Darkness
Akyrum the Fang of Darkness
Sue the ???
Goire of the Decayed Earth
Eleanor the Gaze of Stone


As of this current patch, this is the status of our "Generals" (Whom I will refer to as the Black Knights):

Valfar: Defected to Resistance; currently an anti-hero.
Orca: Fought by Mercedes and escaped; fate currently unknown
Von Leon: Slain. The fight in Lionheart Castle proves this.
Akyrum: Currently alive. Being fought as we speak.
Sue: Fate unknown; yet to be encountered
Goire: Currently broken, or deceased at the moment. Could be revived for a potential boss fight.
Eleanor: Slain. The Cygnus Knights disposed of her, if not them then the Black Mage himself took her out for being useless.

Sue has been missing for a while, she's Orca's twin. By the way, Orca's title is the Wing Master

Gwar has only been mentioned with the above quest.

Sue has been missing for a while, she's Orca's twin. By the way, Orca's title is the Wing Master

Gwar has only been mentioned with the above quest.

Okay, so... does Sue even HAVE a title, or affinity? Because that would help me file that.

In other related news, Orca has recently become a member of the Bunny Lovers Association of Maple World. Look at her quest portrait, and you'll see what I mean.

Also makes me think Orca is from Ariant, or around there, since that's really the only place you can find the Desert Rabbits she's appeared to have mutated (other than Henesys, which has Moon Bunnies, but her bigger henchmen appear to be Desert Rabbits mutated).

Eleanor REALLY needs to be turned into an expedition for 100-140, since I feel she's underused by the Cygnus Storyline.

As for Von Leon, I'm fine with where he is. He sounds like he's at least killable, like Zak/HT/Twisted Masters are, so that isn't an issue. Dark Cygnus is just an amalgam of Akyrum's power, and Akyrum just needs a slight nerf to make him acceptable.

As for Goire, he needs to be a gigantic Krexel-type general, since his minions appear to be trees, making him seem Terra based.

Other than that, I'm fine with the Generals as they are, except we need to see Sue out there, and a Remnant of Valfar (Demon Slayer) as a boss fight.

>Akyrum is the dream weaver member.
Do tell me where that information is confirmed. He travels to the past and practically breaks time, but I don't think he's the dream master.

Also....
>Anyone on the Black Wing's will actually die.
How many times do I have to fight Francis from him to up and go then? Evan left Hiver alive as well.
I don't think anyone on the Black Wings team will officially DIE until their full over all purpose is served and seeing how we have yet to meet an end on this story, i don't think there will be a death anytime soon.

(P.S. I like the name you gave Demon Slayer. Suave.)

How many times do I have to fight Francis from him to up and go then? Evan left Hiver alive as well.
I don't think anyone on the Black Wings team will officially DIE until their full over all purpose is served and seeing how we have yet to meet an end on this story, i don't think there will be a death anytime soon.

(P.S. I like the name you gave Demon Slayer. Suave.)

First off, if I'm right, Evan doesn't fight Francis nor Baroq. This means that he cannot be the canon killer of these two.

If we factor in that Mikhail is the captain of the Cygnus Knights, in a story where our first-person view Cygnus Knights don't exist, he'd be the only one capable of killing Eleanor, due to his unwavering loyalty to the Empress. This would make him the canon killer of Eleanor.

Then we have the fact that Aran fights Francis more than once. She's also encountered them both on multiple occasions, so thus she could be the canon killer in this case.

Hiver exists in all storylines, save for the Thief and Pirate legends (whom from a source I hear are to be named Boralis and Krytus - could be hugely wrong on this though); meaning one of those two could canonically kill Hiver. As for Akyrum, we'll assume that Valfar gets his revenge on Akyrum for that backhand several hundred years ago - this makes him the canon killer for Akyrum, even though he was built with Explorers in mind.

Remember, for this story to really work properly, we have to remove us Maplers from the picture, and put the NPCs/Heroes in charge. Since Valfar exists as an entity of the Black Legion entirely, he counts as a Maple-bred hero, albeit not a member of the five that took out the Black Mage (whom I will from now on refer to as Asmodius).


Story Notes:

-Aran is going to be accepted as canonically female until proven otherwise. She's responsible for retrieving Victoria Island's Seal Stone, and defeating Francis and Baroq.
-Evan is the gullible fool responsible for letting the Black Wings get so far.
-Valfar is canonically male, and was originally a member of the Black Knights. For all intents and purposes, Valfar gets his revenge on Akyrum, and kills him. Canonical win for Valfar.
-Mercedes is canonically female, and is Queen of the Elves (this is proven to be canon). She has a brief clash with General Orca, and Orca escapes the battle (though the game states it's a victory for Mercedes here, we'll assume canonically it's a draw).
-Nothing is known on the Pirate and Thief legends, save their names, which may or may not be legit - Boralis and Krytus.
-Mikhail is the oldest and wisest member of the Cygnus Guard, second to Irena, with Eckhart being in the middle, and Oz being the youngest. Because he's been serving Cygnus for quite some time, even long before Nineheart, he can at least break loose of Eleanor's curse, and be able to kill her.
-Hiver still exists due to the fact that he's a clever genius, as opposed to Francis' arrogance that he's a genius. So far, no one's been able to kill him.
-Shadow Warrior is most likely dead. Unknown at this point who has the potential to get canon credit for killing him, but he's probably dead.
-Hiver and Shadow Warrior most likely serve under Goire, if not under Orca (I doubt Orca because she's more pathetic than Hiver, who's dodged notice for long enough and has lived - Orca had to flee her battle knowing she'd get killed if she stuck around).

-Aran is going to be accepted as canonically female until proven otherwise.

Aran isn't even canonically proven as female. If anything the flashback of Aran showing them to be male canonically proves they're male.

-Mercedes is canonically female, and is Queen of the Elves (this is proven to be canon).

Doesn't the questline call "It" a King?

Aran isn't even canonically proven as female. If anything the flashback of Aran showing them to be male canonically proves they're male.



Doesn't the questline call "It" a King?

Meh. I believe it's gender ambiguous in Korean, translating to something more along the lines of leader or ruler or something.

Aran isn't even canonically proven as female. If anything the flashback of Aran showing them to be male canonically proves they're male.

Technically speaking, we haven't received OFFICIAL proof of what Aran's gender is canonically. Aran is both a feminine and masculine name, depending on how you pronounce it. Though gMS says it "Ah-rahn" so Aran could be male canonically. But I digress.

Doesn't the questline call "It" a King?

Mercedes hasn't reached gMS yet, but the anime short only has a female version of Mercedes. Plus Mercedes is a feminine name, so we're pretty much at enough evidence to call Mercedes canonically female.

Well, I believe she is indeed a she, and that Evan is a guy. But when it comes to Aran that change from using the male sprite and the female sprite so much that you can label it either really. Unless the flashback still shows Aran as a male (not sure if they changed it) it would be the only in game proof that Aran is male canon wise.

There is also the fact that when going in the past there is a male Aran laying on the ground which also implies he is male.

First off, if I'm right, Evan doesn't fight Francis nor Baroq. This means that he cannot be the canon killer of these two.

If we factor in that Mikhail is the captain of the Cygnus Knights, in a story where our first-person view Cygnus Knights don't exist, he'd be the only one capable of killing Eleanor, due to his unwavering loyalty to the Empress. This would make him the canon killer of Eleanor.

Then we have the fact that Aran fights Francis more than once. She's also encountered them both on multiple occasions, so thus she could be the canon killer in this case.

Hiver exists in all storylines, save for the Thief and Pirate legends (whom from a source I hear are to be named Boralis and Krytus - could be hugely wrong on this though); meaning one of those two could canonically kill Hiver. As for Akyrum, we'll assume that Valfar gets his revenge on Akyrum for that backhand several hundred years ago - this makes him the canon killer for Akyrum, even though he was built with Explorers in mind.

Remember, for this story to really work properly, we have to remove us Maplers from the picture, and put the NPCs/Heroes in charge. Since Valfar exists as an entity of the Black Legion entirely, he counts as a Maple-bred hero, albeit not a member of the five that took out the Black Mage (whom I will from now on refer to as Asmodius).Why Asmodius? Why not something like Shawn, or Russell? Or something that makes sense like Kerebos, the "Demon from the Pit"?


Story Notes:

-Aran is going to be accepted as canonically female until proven otherwise. She's responsible for retrieving Victoria Island's Seal Stone, and defeating Francis and Baroq. Why? All the artwork points to Aran being a male.
-Evan is the gullible fool responsible for letting the Black Wings get so far.[B]Yeah, basically. STUPID DRAGON.
-Valfar is canonically male, and was originally a member of the Black Knights. For all intents and purposes, Valfar gets his revenge on Akyrum, and kills him. Canonical win for Valfar.Actually, the Demon Slayer is explicitly canonically portrayed as neither. That's why KMS lets you create a male or a female DS, no matter what your gender is in real life (according to your KSSN), and there are 2 separate trailers for male and female.
-Mercedes is canonically female, and is Queen of the Elves (this is proven to be canon). She has a brief clash with General Orca, and Orca escapes the battle (though the game states it's a victory for Mercedes here, we'll assume canonically it's a draw). So, if someone runs up, beats you to within an inch of your life, and then you run away, you can brag to your friends that it's a draw?
-Nothing is known on the Pirate and Thief legends, save their names, which may or may not be legit - Boralis and Krytus. Just out of random interest, where did you hear those names, and which one would belong to which legend?
-Mikhail is the oldest and wisest member of the Cygnus Guard, second to Irena, with Eckhart being in the middle, and Oz being the youngest. Because he's been serving Cygnus for quite some time, even long before Nineheart, he can at least break loose of Eleanor's curse, and be able to kill her. Eckhart is actually the youngest, as I learned yesterday from Hawkeye, in the insight level 20 quest.

 Spoiler

-Hiver still exists due to the fact that he's a clever genius, as opposed to Francis' arrogance that he's a genius. So far, no one's been able to kill him.
-Shadow Warrior is most likely dead. Unknown at this point who has the potential to get canon credit for killing him, but he's probably dead. I do believe that he shows up in the Mercedes storyline, and is defeated (not sure if killed) by Mercedes. Hiver sends Mercedes into a trap in Ludibrium, but is never fought.
-Hiver and Shadow Warrior most likely serve under Goire, if not under Orca (I doubt Orca because she's more pathetic than Hiver, who's dodged notice for long enough and has lived - Orca had to flee her battle knowing she'd get killed if she stuck around).All canonical evidence in the Mercedes storyline points to Orca controlling Hiver and SW during that period of time, but it seems as if they are both part of a general goon squad that the black wings use to battle the heroes.

My comments in bold.

Why Asmodius? Why not something like Shawn, or Russell? Or something that makes sense like Kerebos, the "Demon from the Pit"? Recall that in past quest lines, using black magic, like necromancy or the like, was said to slowly turn you into a demon. Asmodius is a ploy off of Asmodeus, which is another name for Lucifer/Satan. Since Black Mage probably lost his humanity during the Magatia Immortality incident and became a demon, it makes sense to call him Asmodius, since MapleStory paints him as the penultimate evil.

Story Notes:

- Why? All the artwork points to Aran being a male. I've factored that in. But then explain the screw up by Nexon in the Alliance gathering, wherein Aran is portrayed as female?
-Yeah, basically. STUPID DRAGON.I blame this one on Mir's immaturity.
-Actually, the Demon Slayer is explicitly canonically portrayed as neither. That's why KMS lets you create a male or a female DS, no matter what your gender is in real life (according to your KSSN), and there are 2 separate trailers for male and female.Then explain to me why his class select artwork is only showing the male version?
- So, if someone runs up, beats you to within an inch of your life, and then you run away, you can brag to your friends that it's a draw? In my eyes, in a fight you win if you kill the other person, especially if we're talking wars here. Orca got away, but how do we know she wasn't pulling punches here?
-Just out of random interest, where did you hear those names, and which one would belong to which legend? This. Look at the comments, and you'll see someone say something about it; again, I repeat it may or may not be true.
-Eckhart is actually the youngest, as I learned yesterday from Hawkeye, in the insight level 20 quest. I did not know that. But still, Mikhail apparently retains his title as the "most loyal to Cygnus". This is evident by the fact that even though he's a Dawn Warrior, the very symbol of light, he's still easily turned due to his unwavering loyalty.
-All canonical evidence in the Mercedes storyline points to Orca controlling Hiver and SW during that period of time, but it seems as if they are both part of a general goon squad that the black wings use to battle the heroes. I dunno about that. Explain to me the rabbit squad she uses, her overall obsession with bunnies, and the fact that she's in the meeting room where Akyrum, Von Leon, and Valfar are plotting to burn Valfar's house down (at Valfar's protest, may I add?). Sounds to me she could very well be an Ariant or Henesys native, adopted by the Black Mage at one point.

My replies to your comments in italics.

Somewhat offopic: Has Alcaster been given any new storyline in the Mercedes or Demon Slayer quests? He was arguably the most important person of rebuilding Ossyria after Black Magician's defeat (built Magatia, made Orbis float, sealed Zakum, etc.), would be weird if they neglected him now. The Magatia storyline clearly hinted that he stole his alchemy powers from Black Magician's studies, wouldn't be surprised if he had secretly been an old follower of him or something.

Somewhat offopic: Has Alcaster been given any new storyline in the Mercedes or Demon Slayer quests? He was arguably the most important person of rebuilding Ossyria after Black Magician's defeat (built Magatia, made Orbis float, sealed Zakum, etc.), would be weird if they neglected him now. The Magatia storyline clearly hinted that he stole his alchemy powers from Black Magician's studies, wouldn't be surprised if he had secretly been an old follower of him or something.

That would be on-topic, since I can't rename this post. But it does hold relevance, since if Alcaster knew what Asmodius was doing and tried to stop him, it would've been easy for him to be remorseful for what happened during the Magatia incident. Alcaster also knows enough not to do what Asmodius did, and this is why he used many of the Black Mage's writings for good purposes instead of bad (Grendel most likely fell prey to naivete during his studies under Alcaster, since it's hinted that Alcaster trained Grendel.)

EDIT - Also note how El Nath is farther down the polar medium than Rien is; and remember that Rien is only snowy because of what Asmodius did to it. What if El Nath suffered a similar fallout effect after the Black Mage became what he did? That would also explain the inexplainable barren terrain in El Nath's deeper regions, and also why it becomes a volcano the further you go into the Dead Mines.

I've factored that in. But then explain the screw up by Nexon in the Alliance gathering, wherein Aran is portrayed as female?

As I said before Aran is changed between male and female a lot. In the flashback of fighting the Black Magician Aran is shown as male, when you go into the past Aran is shown as a male.

And, I wouldn't put much weight into those images, they completely left out entire classes, guess those classes no longer exist because they weren't shown, eh? Do those images show up in game? If not then Aran is canonically male because he is shown as male two times within the game, anything outside the game doesn't count. Also, to use your excuse about Demon Slayer, Aran is shown as male on his class creation icon.

As I said before Aran is changed between male and female a lot. In the flashback of fighting the Black Magician Aran is shown as male, when you go into the past Aran is shown as a male.

And, I wouldn't put much weight into those images, they completely left out entire classes, guess those classes no longer exist because they weren't shown, eh? Do those images show up in game? If not than Aran is canonically male because he is shown as male two times within the game, anything outside the game doesn't count. Also, to use your excuse about Demon Slayer, Aran is shown as male on his class creation icon.

Okay, then we can accept that Aran is canonically male. I don't know if I should edit my prior posts to match this. But yeah, it'd make sense that Aran is male. It would also make sense that Valfar is male as well, since it's hard to tell which animation is canon, but the class select image is clearly male, meaning Valfar is canonically male as well.

Also at your comment regarding the classes no longer existing, technically, they're going with the ROOT of the base class, meaning what'd be acceptable to a MMO scholar. Warriors are known to carry shields and swords, mages carry staves, pirates were better known for their pistol use, Thieves carry all kinds of knivery, and Bowmen hardly used crossbows in history - only place you see them used is Feudal to Marksman age Europe and China. And do note China invented muskets AND Gunpowder.

What about Dargoth?