Guardian Gods

> "*Increasingly helpless in the face of its impending doom, we crystalized the last of our energy, so that when the time came, it could support humanity's final hope. That final hope, Messenger, is you.*"
> ― *Guardian Gods*
>
>

**Guardian Gods** are characters in The Messenger. They are long-forgotten Gods, symbolically depicted with the sun and moon motif throughout the ancient ruins of Sunken Shrine.

## Profile

### Appearance

The Guardian Gods are an orange flame and a blue flame. Together, the two flames swirl around in a large flame-holding cauldron. The flame who talks burns the most brightly and hovers above the other flame.

Before entering the cauldron, they sleep within a large decaying stone monument composed of two tall flattened tablets, connected at the top by a large stone sun with a crescent moon symbol on it. Each stone tablet has patterns of dots connected together by lines that represent the sun and the moon. The left tablet is an 8-pointed snowflake shape and represents the sun, and the orange flame sleeps within its center dot. The right tablet is a hexagon missing its left edge and represents the moon, and the blue flame sleeps within its center dot. When the Guardian Gods awaken, they highlight the symbols with their respective colors before leaving the monument and entering the flame-holding cauldron.

### Personality

The Guardian Gods are kind, offering Ninja a moment to rest from his long adventure. They speak to him in a caring manner, explaining some of their history but not overburdening him with information that he wouldn't be able to comprehend. They bless Ninja with a gift, the last of their power crystallized into a music note.

## Main Story

Ninja traverses through Howling Grotto's underwater maze to reach Sunken Shrine, a shrine deep beneath the ocean and thoroughly decorated with the sun and moon motif. Ninja can enter a shop and speak with The Shopkeeper, where he comments on how Sunken Shrine looks ancient. The Shopkeeper explains that the Blue Robes are not really sure what the Sunken Shrine is, other than the ruins of a religion long forgotten. She goes on to say that The Prophet believes that the shrine was built to worship legendary heroes who ascended into Guardian Gods, and apparently the Guardian Gods' power had something to do with the stars.

A large door in the central hub of Sunken Shrine has a mysterious energy emanating from it and two empty sockets. Ninja collects the Sun Crest and Moon Crest and places them into the door's sockets, causing the door to open. Inside the room is a large stone monument, and an orange and blue flame leave the monument to enter a large flame-holding cauldron. The duo take turns speaking to Ninja, and they offer him a respite.

Ninja asks what the Sunken Shrine is, but the Guardian Gods explain that Sunken Shrine's purpose and history matter very little, as a long time ago, a tragic fate befell the world. Eons ago, they were the world's guardians. With each passing generation, humans took their security for granted and stopped worshipping the Guardian Gods. And without worshippers, the Guardian Gods's power slowly faded away. The world that was once vibrant eventually fell victim to a flood, and the only remaining piece of land was cursed.

Ninja asks how long ago all of this happened, but the Guardian Gods reply that it would make little sense to denizens of a fallen world, a world whose connection to the stars was severed long ago. In order to save the world, the Guardian Gods crystallized the last of their energy, so that one day, it could support humanity's final hope: Ninja. The Guardian Gods say they have watched Ninja since the day he was born and will continue to watch over him, and they offer him their final gift to the world, the Key of Love. The duo fade away, leaving behind the Music Note. After Ninja collects the Music Note, he leaves the room, and the doorway to the Guardian Gods's room closes on its own. Ninja cannot return back to the room.

## Trivia

* The orange-texted Guardian God is referred to as "SUNBOY" and the blue-texted Guardian God is referred to as "MOONGIRL" in the dialogue files.
* The direction Ninja faces before he enters the Guardian Gods's room affects which direction he faces during the Guardian Gods cutscene.
* During the Music Box cutscene, The Shopkeeper is seen gazing into a scrying orb, which displays a tiny Ninja with his back visible. Ninja is posed in the same way as he is during the Guardian Gods cutscene.
* In a beta screenshot of Sunken Shrine, The Iron Hood and an unused feminine statue were used as placeholders for the Guardian Gods, Sunboy and Moongirl.

## Achievements

*For the main article, see Achievements.*

## Gallery

Spritesheet of the Guardian Gods' remains."Moongirl.""Sunboy."Structures in Sunken Shrine that symbolically represent the Guardian Gods.Beta screenshot depicting the placeholders for the Guardian Gods.