Astotheles

Allow Team Snakemouth to defeat the Wasp Kingdom when they backed away from their deal (succeeded).
Establish his own country for his bandits (ongoing).

### Crimes

Kidnapping
Theft
Attempted murder

### Type of MB

Honorable Thief

**Astotheles** is a minor antagonist of the 2019 role-playing video game *Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling*. He is the leader of the bandits of the Lost Sands, who lives by ironic code of honor. In Chapter 4, he kidnaps Team Snakemouth and holds them for ransom from the Wasp Kingdom, but ends up assisting them when they break free and defeat them in a duel after the Wasps betray him and his bandits.

## What Makes Him Magnificent?

* He's a skilled thief who was able to pull off multiple successful heists with his bandits.
* He manages to trick Team Snakemouth into believing him to be a humble merchant and sells them the key to the Bandit Hideout, where his bandits would ambush them en-masse, imprisoning and disarming the team. The only reason how Team Snakemouth was able to escape was only due to the fact that Kabbu is capable of burrowing, something not even Vi and Leif knew at first.
* When Team Snakemouth escapes their confinement and reclaims their stolen stuff, and the Wasp Kingdom refuses to pay the bandits, Astotheles reveals himself and his intentions behind imprisoning them, admitting that he was blind to Wasp Kingdom's treacherous ways. Afterwards, he challenges Team Snakemouth to an honorable fight, and when defeated and shown mercy, he upholds his end of bargain, allowing them to go free and giving them his half of Sand Castle's key, telling Team Snakemouth to bring the Wasp Kingdom to justice for their treachery.
	+ To ensure that the fight would be honorable, he would destroy any item Team Snakemouth attempts to use in their battle. To do so, he will break himself free of any paralyzing status ailment (freeze, numb or sleep) to destroy an item.
* He is noted to be a very skilled swordmaster, and as a miniboss, he is particularly challenging, both due to his swordplay and his ability to destroy any items Team Snakemouth may use.
* He genuinely sees his fellow bandits as a family and is dedicated to improving the life conditions in their hideout, also trying to establish an official independent country for them to live in. The bandits, in turn, genuinely admire their leader and were even willing to avenge him when they saw that he was defeated.
* Despite being a leader of the vicious bandit gang, he takes no joy in his villainy and sees his acts as a necessary evil in order to provide for his fellow bandits. In his journal, he even writes that he genuinely sympathized with a traveller he robbed once.
* After being defeated by Team Snakemouth and shown mercy, he ends up questioning his bandit life and, after leaving his trusted advisor to run the Bandit Hideout in his absense, left to whereabouts unknown to rethink his ways, implying that he may redeem himself in the future. He also briefly returns to join the celebrations over Team Snakemouth's victory in the Ant Kingdom with everyone while remaining hidden in the shadows.

## What Makes Him a Baddie?

* Despite his honor, he and his bandits still attack and steal from innocent bugs, with more than one sidequest being dedicated to returning the stolen items back to their respective owners.
* He sets an ambush on Team Snakemouth, sending the hordes of bandits to beat them up, steal their possessions, kidnap them and and hold them for ransom, intending to sell them out to the Wasp Kingdom. The Wasp Kingdom is noted to be very aggressive and most likely would've killed or brutally interrogated the team, had they got them under their clutches.
* When Team Snakemouth escapes from the prison, he challenges them to a duel to death, refusing their offers to negotiate due to their association with Queen Elizant II, heeding them only after being defeated and shown mercy.