Manta

**Trigger Warning**This article or section contains contains possibly triggering concepts for certain individuals. Please read at your own risk.

**Reason:** This article mentions the character committing suicide.

**"Canon, that's canon!"**This article or section contains heavy spoilers for the *Afterglow SMP*. Please read everything on this page through the eyes of a reader, not as a character. Most of this information only specific characters should know and some of it only the player knows.

**"Why are you so big?"**This article is long (18,803 bytes), and could slow down your browser by opening or editing it. Please proceed with caution and wait for it to load patiently.

> You can never lose what you hold most dear.
>
> Sky Manta, title of the first stream

**Sky F. Manta** or commonly known as **Manta** is a character on the Afterglow SMP.

He is known for the murder of Appel, Cringe and Olive, as well as committing suicide and becoming a ghost.

## Manta

* Artwork
* Skin (Revived)
* Skin (Science)

### Aliases

Manta, Code, Sky F. Manta,
S.F.M. (Initials), Mr. Manta,
Pestilence, Kid, Mant,
Skrunkly (by Olive),
Blonde Boy (by Vanzant),
Phantom-boy (by Cosmos),
Crazy Ass (by Final)

## Character Info

### Element

Air (Immortal)
Water (Afterglow)

## Lore Info

### Deaths

* Killed by Stuck during the StarGate event
* Stabbed in the chest by Tokyo
* Committed suicide.

### Kills

Appel, Olive, Cringe, himelf, Iron (No canon death)

### Residence(s)

S.N.O.W.U.H., Izonite Research Foundation Laboratory

## Physiology

### Appearance

Manta is a Phantom-borne, standing at 6'0". Wearing a dark-blue cloak, lined with bones and a golden necklace that used to be at the back of his neck connecting to a purple, glowing spine, with black pants and brown shoes along with a black undershirt. He has short blonde hair and glowing green eyes, with blue marks resembling tears flowing down from them.

### Biology

Phantom-bornes are Phantoms given Enchanted Golden Apples quickly after being corrupted by Chorus Fruit, somewhat similar to Zombie Villagers being reverted. Phantom-bornes are initially made with wings, but Manta lost his in a crash quickly after leaving his birthplace. When fed the Enchanted Golden Apple, the following issues with Phantoms are fixed.

* Burning in daylight
* Less overall health
* Physical appearance
* Being emo as all fuck (Failed to be fixed)

However, after dying, the first two reverted, leaving Manta very vulnerable.

1. ↑ Manta has only ever experienced 24 years of age, but if you counted his age from the day he was born to the current time in lore, his age is drastically higher. It is undecided what year it is currently for Manta.

### Abilities

As a phantom-borne, Manta naturally is able to see slightly better in the dark. This ability is not reflected in game.

After his death, Manta gained the ability to move through solid objects and hover slightly.

## Personality

Manta's personality constantly changed throughout the Immortal SMP, starting out a naive, curious little child, lost and forgiving. After seeing the machine that Cringe built, however, took a liking into science, overworking himself at times. Once being hired by **Cringe** to join the IRF, he was a workaholic, tinkering nonstop on gadgets and gizmos, trying to impress both **Cringe** and his birth father. However, after spending about a month in limbo, Manta lost many emotions, and all went downhill. Getting rejected by Dragon sent him on a mental crisis trying to find his purpose, and after killing Appel and being fired filled him with hatred, regret and more work. From that day onward he was a vengeful workaholic, not trusting anybody and not letting anything get into his path.

### Hobbies

Other than doing chemistry, Manta has always been a writer. He enjoys documenting his time as a ghost and traveling to new places. He had a multitude of books and poems in his past life, but was unable to keep them for the next world. He regrets not remembering what was in them, except for one.

### Flaws

Manta's main flaw is trusting those that should not be, and vice versa. He takes liking into those with the same interests as him but will not take into account their true intentions and past.

### D&D alignment

Manta is fully Neutral Evil. He usually only cares for himself, and constantly insults others that get on his bad side. He vandalizes property and has been known for murder and kidnapping.

## History

### Backstory

In the beginning, there was once a great society known as the Chorus of Warriors. They lived in an elusive land called the End, ruled by a Dragon they wished to overcome. They had a great army, commanded by the great Roccus, who was soon to die. To make up for this, a scientist named Skulk created artificial beings to fight in the war for him. He began to work on a flying unit to battle in the sky easily to distract the dragon. He created a being he dubbed a Phantom, but it wasn't powerful enough. They had no fighting capabilities. So, he fed them a chorus fruit, hoping it would give them teleportation, but it failed miserably. He tried to cure one by feeding it an enchanted golden apple, but it was morphed into Manta. He flew off with his then working wings, and left the End, leaving Skulk with the other Phantoms he tried to make. Manta unknowingly went through a rip through dimensions and ended up in a desert, crashing into a structure and laying there for a great, long time, only emerging in an era without years, where chaos ruled. He had to flee from the building, and landed in an area with people thriving, known as Durcinville. Over time, he made a group of three, including those named Vandon and Moose, and they were dubbed the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Vandon as death, Moose as famine, and Manta as pestilence. They were the most powerful beings in the land, but they didn't last for much longer. Every few notable events, the world resets to attempt at making a thriving world, but it never works, so when the next reset hit, Manta didn't wake up in the same place he hoped, he ended up in a temple in a new, very different world.

### Immortal

    **Manta** started off timid and kept to himself. He didn't do much for a few events until meeting Cringe who he instantly was attached to. He began to do experiments with him and did various tests for the IRF. Eventually, the two had to run from the birth of the General and lived in a snowy mountain for a while. As they prepared for the Stargate event, **Manta** began to worry about **Cringe's** health. After the **Stargate** was opened and Appel killed **Cringe**, **Manta** grew a strong vengeance against him and began to plan. As **Cringe** made the time travel machines, **Manta** gained explosives and captured Natarii, putting her in a coal mine to bring **Appel** to. He set off the explosives, killing **Appel**, but was ridiculed by **Cringe**. **Manta** ran off and did science in his own time, as he slowly grew more and more insane. After the failed deal with Cosmos and his second death, he grew tired of it all and finished his job, by working together to build the portal to Afterglow and killing himself and **Cringe** before he could leave. To read more about his Immortal lore, and travel into Afterglow, go here.

### Afterglow Season 1

After his travel into the afterlife, **Manta** had lived in limbo for a few months before being called to the mortal plane into Afterglow. He was annoyed that he had to deal with "living" again, but made the most of it. He met back up with a few people he knew in his world prior and reformed the IRF. Manta mainly stayed in his newly claimed lab, crafting away at inventions, and appearing every once in a while, to gather materials. He never appeared after fighting the General, and his fate is currently unknown.

## Timeline

**Episode 1: What Remains:** Manta was spiritually summoned by Popper on accident and ran off to The Temple to meet back up with Final and Phoenix, and also met up with a few other familiar faces. He then left to see Dragon again, just to chat, and left to build a small base for the time being.

**Off stream**, Manta packed his things and left off with Snowuh to form a base far from the mainland and started work on a railway.

In a small lore recording, Manta met up with **Phoenix**, Jekyll, Sneggizoroth, Tailoc, Red and **Snowuh** at a small village and found out that General was still alive in **Jekyll'**s body. He quickly told **Phoenix** and **Red** and became allies with the two.

**Episode 2: Old Friends, Old Rivals:** Many members including Manta travelled to a distant and abandoned laboratory which contained Izonite, along with other things. Manta quickly claimed the lab as his own, but **Final** took an important book inside, which he asked Iron to retrieve. He, along with **Snowuh** joined the **IRF** to research the contents inside.

**Episodes 3, 4, 5 & 6:** Manta was absent for these episodes.

**Episode 7: The Festival:** Manta made a brief appearance at the festival, and had a small performance in the talent show, but didn't stay long enough for anything important to happen.

**Episodes 8 & 9:** Manta was absent for these episodes.

**Episode 10:** Manta fought against **General** and killed **Iron** multiple times. It is assumed that he showed up drunk to the event.

**Episode 11 & beyond:** Manta didn't appear for the rest of the first two seasons.

## Items

Manta hasn't had any notable items in season one, other than books that were owned by others before him, making them not specifically notable to him.

## Quotes

> I may be losing my mind, but if anything, I'm losing my patience, **Cosmos**.
>
> Sky F. Manta, Immortal SMP

## Mini Stories

**NOTICE**

These stories are not canonical but do give hints to either upcoming lore, backstory, or already existing lore. Read at your own risk.

**The Vision**

Manta sat dormant in his wrecked room. He didn’t know why it was destroyed. The last thing he saw was a figure walking down the steps to his lab.
Manta sat up and looked around at ripped books on the floor, and a single small note that was written in a rush. Still, the handwriting was proper. Clearly its typographer was skilled in what they had left.
Manta picked up the letter and attempted to read it in his head, but his vision became fuzzy and heard voices whispering about him. They filled his head with thoughts of regret, sadness, anger, nostalgia and pain.
He felt a stab in the chest before shooting up as the noise fizzled out. His eyesight became clear again as he came to his feet, but he struggled to comprehend what state he was in. He felt heavy.
Manta looked down at his hands and saw the slight markings in his skin. As he felt air leave his esophagus he realized something was wrong. He looked down at his feet planted firmly on the floor. He was real.
Manta looked back down at the letter and yet it too had changed. The writing was messy and colored a dark purple. It only read 3 words. “Welcome back, failure.” He folded the paper on its creases after he read the shocking message.
Something did this to him. Something malicious. He didn’t understand what kind of person would do such a horrible thing to his innocent self. He thought back through the people he knew. He could only think of so many at the moment, but he had to work with what he had.
Final? No, he would have him sentient and cared for. Phoenix? Same thing. Snowuh? Too young to know how to do such a thing. Dragon? … She couldn’t. Bronze? Maybe not, but General. General would do it if he knew how. But he doesn’t. Who knows how to do this?
Someone would need to be very involved with the IRF to have the knowledge of revival. Only, this wasn’t entirely revival. The body felt familiar, but not familiar enough. He’s seen this skin before, felt this air that he now breathes against his neck, felt this fear that he now gives off. This isn’t revival. It's a physical form giving.
Very different concepts for sure, but this craft was even more secretive. Only Cringe and Toya would do this, but neither write like that. The realization hit him like a stab in the chest. There’s only one person that was present for that event. One person that wasn’t the one who made the damn thing.
Stuck. Manta was stuck inside his own head. In his own office. Snowuh was sitting on the other side of the door keeping him inside. Manta just phased through the wall. Everything was ok. It was all just a nightmare. A terrifyingly real nightmare.

**The Lost**

*A corpse lay before their feet. A corpse of their only friend. Mai was gone. Dead. You couldn’t bring her back if you tried. They were sad.*
*Sad but confused. Why would she of all people do it to them? Why would she cause such chaos? What does she have against them? What’s her problem?*
*They looked back at their home, burning. That, too, was her doing. She’s causing so much violence and anger. What does she get out of it? Happiness?*
*A terrorist. That’s all they thought of her now. A liar and a terrorist. She said she would be a leader. She was wrong. So so wrong. If only there was some way they could get back at her.*
*There was. She had what she would call her friends. Kill them. Kill him. He’s the one. He’s the one she cares about. Get back at what she did to them. And her. Avenge Mai.*

Manta woke up. That wasn’t his dream. That was a memory of someone that was like him. Who were they talking about? Who is Mai? Who is… “She”?
Manta could feel emotions rushing through him that reminded him of something. The last time he felt “happy.” The last time something he did was of worth. Killing both of them.
When he saw his scarred face the next day, when he saw the blood dripping from his chest. Both of them deserved it. And now they’re gone.
He killed “him” already. So who was “she”? Who was close to either of them? Was it really who he thought it was? He had nothing against her but…
Yes, that’s who he saw in the dream. Her horns were prominent. Resembling a demon. Fire was everywhere. What is she going to do next?
What did Natarii do next? He’ll never know. That world is gone. Whoevers perspective he was watching is gone. Everything in what was that world is lost. At least he thought.

**The Other Side**

A haunting feeling filled Manta’s mind. It was one he was all too familiar with. The cold tendrils slid against his spine as he could hear the voice again.
There was a shock in his muscles as he crept forward against his will. He had no control over any action he was able to do. Not even think at this point.
“Go this way.” He went there. “Grab that.” He held it in his shivering hand. “Break it.” He tossed it against the floor and watched the glass shatter.
Footsteps began rushing towards his location. Cries of confusion were calling his name. The cold feeling crept off his body but he still felt freezing. Hamilton stood disturbed at the door to Manta’s lab.
“Manta, are you ok? I heard glass breaking.” Hamilton looked around the room with his mask stunting his vision.
“It’s fine, nothing important. Just… help me stand up would ya?” Hamilton rushed over and pulled him up by the arm.
“What happened here? Why did you break your own research?” Hamilton put him down on a couch by his desk and sat down beside Manta.
“Look, it’s just that something is after me. You don’t wanna learn about it, trust me.” Manta held his head in his hands as he felt a small migraine arise. “I need to lay down…”
“Good idea.” Hamilton walked over to a machine covered by a tarp and pulled it off, laying it on Manta. “Listen, you really shouldn’t work down here alone if you’re going to do dang-”
Manta cut him off before he could finish his suggestion. “I didn’t do that, alright? It was something else.” Hamilton just became more confused. “It’s just… Ugh, go ask Final or something, I can’t deal with this right now.”
Hamilton took off his mask and patted Manta’s back as he rolled over on the couch. “You got it bud. Rest well.” He stood up and walked off, trying to think of what to ask Final.
Manta lay there, less cold. Less alone. He had no way of stopping it from returning, but he had to accept that. He had to accept a lot at this point.
“Follow him.” Manta tore the blanket off his body and limped over behind Hamilton’s path, just as told. He can’t stop this.

To read more stories like these, go here.

## Trivia

* Manta is slightly deaf in one ear after exploding Appel into smithereens.
	+ He also has a permanent slouch from a stab in the chest and from hanging himself.
* Manta has gone through multiple depictions of "Limbo."
	+ Supposedly, none of them served the purpose of torturing his afterlife.
* The quote at the top of the page was never actually said by Manta, but was the title of SkyManta's first stream of season 1 and will be said in upcoming lore.
	+ The quote is notable, however, due to the irony of Manta being absent for a majority of season 1. He himself was not held dear enough, and therefore was lost.
* Manta supposedly listens to Weezer.
	+ For context, during the beginning of an event after discussing what to do to fight **Iron**, Manta mistakenly believed that a copy of **General**'s OS drive was back at the lab, but due to being slightly drunk forgot if it was that or a DVD of Weezer's Ratitude album.

## Gallery

* Artwork
* Screenshots
* Other

Artwork by CryptiidDitto, with a simpler backgroundA closer look at Manta's cloakDragon's depiction of MantaNatarii's depiction of Manta killing AppelAnother interpretation by the same artistBee's depiction of Manta's final deathSnowuh's interpretation of MantaAnother interpretation by the same artistStuck killing **Manta**, by AppelCyderAlice's interpretation of MantaA (joke) interpretation of Manta by Saddie Artwork of a discussion between Cringe, **Manta** and Stuck, by Vandon

The cave that Cringe and **Manta** lived in during ImmortalA conversation between Manta and Cringe during ImmortalA trophy room that Pestilence had in Durcinville

The hoodie SkyManta wears in live action recordings, and what one of the skins is based onPicrew**Manta'**s character sheet**Manta** in the Gender Swap AU, art by Snowuh**Manta** in the Role Swap AU, art by SkyManta
1. ↑ https://twitter.com/SManta414/status/1624830624237498368
2. ↑ https://fridaynightfunking.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000307989/r/4400000000001970883