Rhalgr

Rhalgr, the Destroyer, is one of the Twelve in Final Fantasy XIV. He is the breaker of worlds and god of destruction, commands the element of lightning and is tied to the Fourth Umbral Moon (eighth month). He is depicted as a magus carrying a bronze staff, and his symbol is the streaking meteor. Father of both Byregot and Halone, he is the attendant to Nymeia, and guardian deity of Ala Mhigo.
==History==
===Creation myth===
According to the creation myth, Oschon, Thaliak and Llymlaen brought great chaos to the world by overdoing it in their creations. To bring order to this chaos, Nymeia prepared a powerful comet from the heavens and gave it life, becoming Rhalgr. She directed him into the world so that he could destroy the excess that her children had wrought, and thus bring harmony back into the realm.
When the Whorl awoke from its slumber and beckoned forth Byregot and Halone. It was feared that the untamed and ambitious siblings might once again usher chaos unto the world, so to see that they were properly disciplined, Nymeia quickly made them wards of Rhalgr, the Destroyer. Byregot, the Builder resented His new stepfather who could teach him only of destruction, choosing instead to spend most of His time in the tutelage of Thaliak.
When the Twelve considered their work in Eorzea complete, they proceeded to create a realm in which they could reside and watch over their creation, thus leaving the rule of Eorzea to mankind. This realm is known as the seven heavens that were associated with each of the six elements. In the Heaven of Lightning, one will find a towering clockwork spire built by Byregot with metal forged from a comet and powered by Rhalgr’s levinbolts. Here rest engineers and architects, revolutionaries and conquerors of evil. Levin-charged fragments of the comet plummet to the Pit to form the Hell of Lightning, a place of damnation for vandals, slumlords, and warmongers. This Heaven is represented in Sharlayan astrology by the constellation of the Spire.
===Eorzean worship===
Some believe that the archon Ahldbhar was a reincarnation of Rhalgr. Ahldbhar was one of the twelve archons who fought to try to prevent the Sixth Umbral Calamity.
During the Sixth Umbral Calamity, there was a people who escaped the great flooding by following the guiding light of a comet which led them to the highlands of Gyr Abania. These refugees believed it was Rhalgr who guided them through the meteor, and among the refugees there were those who said they saw Rhalgr himself during the journey. 
This congregation of worshippers were dedicated to the Destroyer, whose fervent faith took solid root in the region. They would come to form order known as the Fist of Rhalgr, and built their Temple of the Fist on the summit of a mountain carving out of bare rock. Rhalgr's Reach was built at the base of the Temple, where they carved the image of the Destroyer according to His supposed sightings while guiding refugees through the calamity. Within their temple the devotees of the Fist trained their body and spirit in an effort to get closer to their deity.
Eventually the Fist of Rhalgr gained strong political influence in Ala Mhigo. The monkhood was named as the religion of the city-state and was integrated into the nation's army. Seeking to escape the influence of the Fist of Rhalgr, King Theodoric proclaimed himself ordained by Nymeia herself and banned the worship of the Destroyer. Naturally, the monks rebelled against Theodoric. In In the year 1546 of Sixth Astral Era, Theodoric led a vast army to the Temple of the Fist, where he ordered the to burn it and exterminate the monkhood. In the year 1557, Ala Mhigo falls and the Garlean Empire forbid the worship of any god in city-state.
Rhalgr has two saints canonized by the Council of Loetstym. The first is Saint Moergynn, an expert blacksmith has followed the instructions of one of his employers to the letter, even if this has resulted in inferior work. The second is Saint Wargbhar, a frontier leader who negotiated in good faith with others unrelated to his background and brought people from unlikely backgrounds together.
In preparation for the Seventh Umbral Calamity, the archon Louisoix Leveilleur carved the symbols of the Twelve across Eorzea and encouraged adventurers to pilgrimage and pray to the Twelve. When the Calamity arrived, Louisoix used the accumulated aether from the prayers to summon a primal manifestation of the Twelve in an attempt to defend the realm from the elder primal Bahamut.
===Myths of the Realm===
After the events of Final Days, the Warrior of Light, along with G'raha Tia and Deryk, investigated a mysterious phantom realm. During the investigation, Byregot, Rhalgr, Azeyma and Nald'thal make an appearance claiming to be of true divinity and not mere primals, they warned the explorers that they were intruding upon the realm of the gods, and revealed their intention to replace the now deceased Hydaelyn as Will of the Star. They then challenged the Warrior to gather as as many allies that they could to stop their "ascension" before leaving.
After the Warrior traveled through the Heavens of Lightning and Fire and bested them in combat, the gods revealed their claims of taking over the world were a lie to spur the Warrior into action, and referred to the Warrior and their comrades as their "children". They reaffirmed they were not primals, but true divinities. When questioned further, the Twelve refused to divulge their exact nature as they were unable to do so at the time, but stated they had "hopes" similar to mortals. They told the Warrior to continue challenging the other gods to face further trials and uncover what they actually were before leaving. 
==Characteristics==
===Appearance===
===Personality===
==Gameplay==
After creating a character and choosing a birth date, players must align to one of the twelve deities. Originally, this slightly raised the character's elemental resistances based on the element of the chosen deity. As of Patch 4.2, elemental resistance stats were removed, leaving this decision with no in game effect.
===Battle===
Rhalgr is the second opponent faced in the raid, faced in the Heaven of Lightning.
===Triple Triad===
===Miscellaneous===
The Living on a Prayer quest in version 1.0 required the player to visit all the Twelve symbols throughout Eorzea. Once completed this rewarded with the ring of one of the Twelve, this included the . Although the original quest was removed with the re-release of the game, in patch 2.45 the quest was added, which repeats the same pilgrimage through the marks of the Twelve. The mark of Rhalgr is located at Little Ala Mhigo, Southern Thanalan. Prior to the Calamity, it could be found in the refugee village of Little Ala Mhigo, south of Camp Drybone, Thanalan.
The Astrologian card represents the Heaven of Lightning, the card artwork depicts Ralghr throwing his levinbolts over Byregot's tower.
==Behind the scenes==
During the sidequest "Of Archons and Muses" in version 1.0 it is said that Rhalgr's image is based on the image of the roegadyn Ahldbhar. However, this information seems to have been dropped. No image of Rhalgr is seen during version 1.0, and the images of the Destroyer seen in the re-release of the game portray him as a Hyur. In the quest it is stated that the modern image of Rhalgr was drawn from sightings of the deity himself in the phantom realm.
Rhalgr is often depicted as a magus bearing a staff of bronze, and this appearance coupled with his command over lightning, has seen scholars conflate the deity with Ramuh, the god of the Sylphs. The theory claims that they are each aspects of the same ancient being, and that it is only the legends passed down by the different races that have given rise to the perception of two distinct deities. In the myth of Ramuh's origin, he is said to be a deity of man, who heard the calls for help from the forest. In-game G'raha Tia theorizes that Ramuh may have been inspired by one of the sightings of Rhalgr of the phantom realm.
Statues of Rhalgr, both called The Destroyer, can be found in Rhalgr's Reach and the Lochs.
The Rhalgr's Gold are golden flowers are named for their relation to the deity of destruction. They are said to only grow in spots struck by Rhalgr's lightning. The Rhalgr's Bile is named for the Destroyer; it is a terrible poison infamously used in the assassination of an Ala Mhigan king. The Rhalgr's Streak, also known as Rhalgr's staff, is a medicinal herb is native to the highlands of Gyr Abania.
There are several legends about Rhalgr in Gyr Abania. One of them says that Ixion is Rhalgr's steed, however, ancient texts from Mhach suggest that the creature may simply be a stallion augmented by ancient technologies. Another legend says that the Phoebads were once people who defied the revelations of Rhalgr and were turned into golems as punishment for their disobedience.
==Gallery==
FFXIV Rhalgr Stone.jpg|Stone with Rhalgr's symbol in version 1.0.
FFXIV The Spire Constellation.gif|The Spire constellation.
FFXIV AST The Spire Card.png|The Spire card.
==Citations==
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy XIV
Category:Deities
Category:The Twelve