Lord of the Locust

The Lord of the Locusts
None (he has no physical form)
Info
Family:	None
Species:	Spirit
Status:	Deceased
Book Appearance:	Eyes of the Storm The Dragonslayer Old Man's Cave Ghost Circles Treasure Hunters Crown of Horns Quest for the Spark (mentioned-only)
Additional Information
First appearance:	Out From Boneville (mentioned-only) Eyes of the Storm (first true appearance)
Last appearance:	Crown of Horns

The Lord of the Locusts (mostly refered to as simply The Locust) is a nightmare creature without physical shape or form and is the overarching antagonist of the original series.

Before the Series

Long ago, The Locust became tired of being a spirit without physical form and desired to become part of the physical world. However, in order to do this, he would need to possess the body of a mortal. He eventually chose Mim, the queen of the dragons and the most powerful mortal creature. Under the influence of the Locust, Mim lost her sanity and went on a rampage, prompting the dragons to reluctantly rebel against their queen. In the ensuing battle that claimed the lives of many of their kind, the dragons found no way to free Mim from the Locust, and were forced to turn her into stone and entomb her beneath the earth, trapping the Locust in her. The land in which the battle had took place, would come to be known as the Valley.

Rose

In the Prequel comic-book Rose, the Lord of the Locusts acts through the treacherous princess Briar Harvestar and a greedy River Dragon named Balsaad he tempted and corrupted. Briar's younger sister Rose confronts the Locust's swarm and eventually kills Balsaad, despite the healing factor the Locust granted him, by cutting him to pieces washed away by a river stream, unable to reattach to him. Furious at Briar for refusing to use Rose in the ritual needed to free him, the Locust ages her as a punishment.

Fifty years before the start of the story, the Locust indirectly influenced the Rat Creatures to wage war against Atheia alongside the eastern humans from the nation of Pawa. (The Pawan warriors eventually came to worship the Locust.) Thanks to Briar, who told them about the Atheian armies' actions, the Rat Creatures managed to topple the kingdom and claim the Valley as their own, eventually slaying the royal family (save from Rose and her grand-daughter Thorn). However, Briar's treachery was unveiled and she was slain by Thorn's father.

With help from the Dragons, Rose could drive the Rat Creatures out of the Valley, agreeing not to rebuild the kingdom if the Rat Creatures were to remain in their mountain. However, The Lord of the Locusts raised Briar as an undead so that she could continue to serve him. Fifteen years later, Briar using the alias of the Hooded One had gained complete dominion over the Rat Creatures and was ready to restart war.

Bone

The Lord of the Locusts first manifests himself at the start of the story, when three toon-like creatures named Fone Bone, Smiley Bone and Phoney Bone enter the Valley. His swarm of locusts overwhelms and separate the three cousins, but the swarm's true nature would not be revealed before long.

The Locust speaks with the Hooded One several times during the story, discussing about her plans of action or the potential threats. At one point, he sends a swarm of his locusts after the Bone cousins and their team, so as to trap them in a mirage. His locusts then seize Fone Bone and attempt to take him with them, but a magic Dream Talisman incidentally given to him by Rose Harvestar drives them away.

When the Hooded One attempts to sacrifice Phoney Bone to release the Lord of the Locusts, it is revealed that she mistook him for a Veni-Yen-Cari and that sacrificing him would be useless. Displeased by this, the Locust turns her back into a corpse and attempts to corrupt Thorn Harvestar (who is an exceptionally powerful Veni-Yan-Cari), but Fone Bone drives his locusts away with the Dream Talisman. The entire mountain is later destroyed in a volcanic explosion, and both Thorn and Fone Bone now bear a fragment of his essence.

The Locust raises the Hooded One again and she expands his Ghost Circles all over the Valley, engulfing entire populations and spreading fear everywhere. All this strengthens the Locust, to the point that he ends up escaping from his jail while still possessing the Dragon Queen Mim, surrounded by a tremendous thunderstorm, spelling the imminent end of the world. As the protagonists struggle to defend the capital city of Atheia from the Hooded One's hordes, Thorn (who received spiritual guidance from her mother's spirit) sneaks out with Fone Bone and goes to Tanen Gard, the Dragons' sacred burial ground; searching for the "Crown of Horns": the very heart of the universe. There, she slays Kingdok and manages to touch the Crown with Fone Bone's help.

Thorn channels her Dreaming power into the Crown of Horns to destroy the fragment of the Locust within herself, causing a chain reaction that obliterates the Lord of the Locusts and the Hooded One once and for all, with all his locusts falling to the ground scorched. With the Ghost Circles gone and the Valley restored, the Dragons gather to bring back a newly freed Mim underground. Thorn later restores Atheia and becomes Queen of the Valley, setting durable peace with Pawa and the Rat Creatures.

Vernal Equinox

Out From Boneville

The Lord of the Locusts used his powers to create a swarm of locusts which caused the Bone cousins to separate, although they didn't realize he had caused it until much later.

Abilities

The Locust is frighteningly powerful, having incredible control over illusions, being able to plunge many people into extremely realistic mirage sequences that might drive them mad. His presence alone blurs the frontiers separating the Dreaming and the Waking, the spiritual and physical realms, and can overwhelm his victims with nightmares.

He can conjure "Ghost Circles": invisible gates between the Spirit World and Nothingness erasing everything and everyone they touch from existence and trapping people's souls between life and death. And he seeks to expand them all over the world.

Even when sealed, he can swarm his surroundings with his locusts and communicate with people in their mind or corrupt them. He is attracted to creatures with strong affinities with the Dreaming, such as Dragons and Veni-Yan-Cari (Awakened Ones: people controlling the Dreaming), whose sensitivity makes them vulnerable to his evil.

Also, he influences the Rat Creatures who live in the mountains where he has been sealed. He is also able to grant powers to those whom he corrupted, or to seal a fragment of himself within someone. The more fear his agents spread, the more power he regains. The Lord of the Locusts is considered one of the most powerful beings in the entire series. However as powerful as it is, it can not enter the real world without some sort of host. So it needs to possess an individual who can connect to the dream world,