Invictus

* True form
* Astral form
* Imprisoned form
* Released form

“*I am the shadow cast, and the light beyond. Your very breath and the choices you make are my gifts. I am in all life.*”
―Invictus
**Invictus** is the main antagonist of the 2018 animated sci-fi TV series *Final Space.*

Invictus is a horrific and malevolent cosmic entity of unknown origins. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, Invictus corrupted the Titans into the destructive monsters they are in the present. It then used the Titans as its own personal army, planning to destroy the universe until it was imprisoned within Final Space by Bolo and the Arachnitects. In the present, Invictus sought to escape Final Space by using Mooncake as the key, sending the Lord Commander to capture him, although it was eventually betrayed by the latter. Despite this, Invictus eventually escaped Final Space with the assistance of Ash Graven, a former member of the Team Squad.

## Biography

### Pre-series

It is unknown how Invictus came to be, but its origins date back to the construction of the universe. When the Arachnitects and the Titans reached the darkest depths of the universe, where Invictus is said to dwell, the mysterious entity used its powers to poison the Titans' minds, forcing them to spread chaos across the universe. Only one Titan, Bolo, was able to resist Invictus' corruptive temptations and fight back against the evil force. Bolo sacrificed himself by sealing himself, the Titans, and Invictus in Final Space, allowing Invictus and the corrupted Titans to exact revenge and imprison him in a dimensional cube in Inner Space. This gave the Arachnitects the opportunity to seal the Titans and Invictus in Final Space. Invictus itself was taken into a prison dimension, where its physical form was trapped to prevent it from crushing the walls of Final Space. Despite this, Invictus and the Titans were still determined to escape Final Space, and spent the next ten thousand years attempting to break through the walls that kept them in Final Space. In doing so, they caused additional breaches in specs that were frequently closed off, one of which resulted in the creation of Mooncake after a particle of Final Space fused with the blast radius of an antimatter bomb detonated by John Goodspeed, resulting in the seal that separated Invictus from the universe to significantly weaken due to the fact that part of the seal that kept Invictus in was inadvertently used to create Mooncake.

### Season 2

Invictus is mentioned by Nightfall in "The Toro Regatta". As she kills the Lord Commander, Nightfall tells him that she has killed him in hundreds of different timelines, and every time she killed him Invictus always takes him, resulting in the cycle repeating itself. She tells Lord Commander to inform Invictus that the Team Squad is coming to kill it, before finishing the tiny tyrant off. Later, as Nightfall predicted, Invictus takes the Lord Commander's corpse, proclaiming that their work had only begun.

In "Arachnitects", the Arachnitects take Mooncake to their dimension so that they could use him to seal the gap between the universe and Final Space to prevent Invictus from escaping. After the Team Squad arrive in their dimension, the Arachnitects tell them the story of the titans and Invictus. They later explain how Mooncake is the missing piece and that he is the reason why the wall that separates the universe from Final Space is breaking down, which would lead to the Titans escaping. Invictus taunts them by saying that it is coming no matter what and later does the same thing to Mooncake after he had healed the wall of Final Space.

In "The Closer You Get", Gary Goodspeed is told of a way he could communicate with Quinn by Avocato, who was slowly recovering his memories following the Team Squad bringing him back through time travel. In order to get to Final Space, Gary consumes a liquid called clearwater on Kanopus Prime that allowed him to mentally reunite with Quinn in Final Space. There, Gary discovers thousands of deceased, alternate versions of himself floating within Quinn's prison, confirming Nightfall's claim that Gary was the one who closed the breach in nearly every timeline. Quinn attempts to warn Gary not to come for her, but Gary remains determined to save her. Invictus is revealed to have been waiting for Gary, having used Quinn as live bait, and take control of Gary's mind. With Gary under its control, Invictus attacks Avocato and Little Cato using its new vessel, but once Avocato overpowers it, it opts to take Avocato as it came to the conclusion that he was the stronger being. Invictus then enters Avocato's mind, tempting the Ventrexian with the notion that Gary stole Little Cato from him, resulting in Avocato mortally wounding Gary in a fit of rage. This forces Little Cato to shoot his father to protect Gary, causing Invictus to disappear with Avocato to parts unknown.

In "The Sixth Key", Invictus returns, still utilizing Avocato as a vessel, and attempts to prevent the Team Squad from entering Inner Space to free Bolo. It first pursues them using a starchaser, attempting to destroy the Crimson Light, but Little Cato shoots its ship down, allowing the Team Squad to enter Inner Space. However, Invictus manages to follow them inside and attacks Gary before Bolo can be freed, preparing to kill him. Before it can do so, the entire Team Squad arrive to save him, but Invictus effortlessly defeats the entire the team. During the battle, Invictus manages to catch Little Cato and nearly strangles him to death, but before he can do so, Ash Graven, with inspiration from the very recent sacrifice of Nightfall, uses her powers in a massive blast that forces Invictus out of Avocato's body, finally freeing him from Invictus’ possession and forcing the malevolent entity back to Final Space. Immediately after, Bolo is freed by the Team Squad, and with the help of the Arachnitects they are able to enter Final Space, where Gary reunites with Quinn. After Gary and Quinn embrace, Invictus is revealed to have been waiting for them, as it appears before them, grinning malevolently.

### Season 3

In "...And Into The Fire", Invictus pursues the Team Squad in Quinn's prison along with two Titans. Despite Invictus' efforts, the Team Squad narrowly escaped after Bolo hurled them out of Quinn's prison. A month later, Invictus attacks the Team Squad on Planet X after possessing Gary's deceased counterparts, and sends the Lizard Titan to kill them. However, this plan fails as the Lizard Titan was soon killed by Bolo and Mooncake, and the Zombie Garys were blasted away after Planet X's destruction.

It returns again during a flashback in "The Ventrexian" to which it shows what happened after it took the Lord Commander following his death at the hands of Nightfall. Invictus brought Lord Commander to its prison and negotiated a deal with the Lord Commander, stating that it would make the Lord Commander a Titan on the condition that latter captures Mooncake and brings him to Invictus, so that it could use him as the key to escape. Invictus then healed Lord Commander, restoring him to his full power, and then sent him off to complete his mission.

In "One of Us", Invictus is seen devouring the souls of numerous captured inhabitants of Final Space in order to become even more powerful. Lord Commander brings Avocato, Little Cato, Fox, and Sheryl Goodspeed to be sacrificed to Invictus, chaining them to stationary asteroids. However, Sheryl Goodspeed manages to escape her chains, which Invictus alerts Lord Commander to, much to his anger. Following Ash's failed attempt to save her friends, Lord Commander reveals to her that Invictus was the one who gave Ash her dark powers. Disgusted at this revelation, Ash initially refuses to believe the Lord Commander at first, but Invictus uses a pink wisp to show her the truth, much to her horror. Later, when Gary and Quinn arrive to save the crew, Invictus successfully devours Fox's soul before Gary and Ash are able to save him, killing him and taking possession of his corpse. When everyone else escapes, an angered Invictus berates the Lord Commander for his failure to capture Mooncake.

In "All The Moments Lost", the Team Squad find themselves being pulled into a black hole that threatens to crush them into oblivion. It is quickly revealed by Ash that Invictus is the cause behind the black hole. Throughout the Team Squad's attempts to escape the black hole, Invictus torments Ash by mentally telling her to join it. Eventually, Ash confronts Invictus and, believing he is still alive, demands that it return Fox to her. Invictus claims that it "freed" Fox, and says it can free Ash as well if she enters the black hole. Wanting answers, Ash flies into the black hole to retrieve Fox as the rest of the Team Squad lightfold to safety.

In "Change is Gonna Come", Ash confronts Invictus within its prison in an attempt to get her brother back, coming face to face with its imprisoned form. When Ash demands that Fox be returned, Invictus claims to Ash that Gary is not the hero she thinks he is. Invictus reveals to Ash that Gary will kill Fox, and says that the only way Ash can save her brother is to join it. Ash refuses to believe that Gary would kill her brother, but Invictus insists that its words are true. Following this, Invictus transforms Ash into her "full self", giving her a second eye and an older appearance. Invictus then gives Ash an ultimatum; stay with Gary and let Fox die, or join it in its goal to destroy the universe and rebuild it. It then sends her out of its prison, giving her three days to decide which side she will choose.

In "The Chamber of Doubt", Bolo is temporarily driven insane as a result of being stabbed by Oreskis' poisonous sword, forcing the Team Squad to go on a mission to save him. Ash encounters a purple version of Bolo who claims to be the only sane part of Bolo's mind remaining, although in actuality it was Invictus in disguise. Together, Invictus and Ash enter the Chamber of Doubt, where Invictus leads Ash to Fox. Once again, this Fox was merely Invictus using Fox's corpse as a puppet. "Fox" retells his tragic past on Tryvuulia to Ash, and convinces to her to join Invictus with him. Soon after, Gary arrives to save Ash, attempting to warn her that "Fox" was truly Invictus. However, Ash would not respond to Gary's pleas. Invictus smiled evilly towards Gary, knowing it would win regardless. Invictus then allowed itself to be attacked by Gary, as Ash looked on in surprise, shouting at Gary to stop attacking her "brother". During the struggle, Invictus takes possession of Gary's robotic arm, forcing it to activate into a laser sword. Invictus told Gary that Ash belonged to it now, and that Gary lost her when he had left her at the black hole. As Ash looked on in horror, helpless to prevent the death of her "brother", Invictus forced Gary to plunge his laser sword into Fox's corpse, making it look as if Gary had murdered Fox. Following Fox's "death", Ash angrily confronted Gary on the death of her brother. However, before Ash could attack Gary, Bolo, having regained control of his mind as Invictus had left, forced Ash, Gary, and the Galaxy Two out of his mind, ending the conflict. Later, Bolo informs a devastated Ash that Invictus inhabited Fox's body, but the distressed Serepentian silenced the Titan before he could elaborate further.

In "Hyper-Transdimensional Bridge Rising", Invictus, possessing the body of an undead Gary, attacks the Lord Commander on his new ship, having grown weary of his repeated failures to capture Mooncake. Lord Commander tells Invictus that Mooncake is with Gary, and when he inquires on the Team Squad's location, Invictus informs him that they are on Earth, having sensed Ash's presence, and orders him to go to the planet.

In "Until the Sky Falls", Lord Commander arrives on Earth where Mooncake is located, with Invictus still aboard his ship using the undead Gary as a vessel. Invictus prepares to capture Mooncake, but Lord Commander discovers the existence of an incubating Titan within Earth's core. Having discovered a way to become a Titan without Invictus, Lord Commander decides to ditch his plan to capture Mooncake and betrays Invictus. Tired of Lord Commander's insubordination, Invictus attempts to kill him, but Lord Commander uses the crystals within his ship to defeat Invictus, before moving on with his new plan.

In "The Dead Speak", Invictus appears to confront Lord Commander, who has successfully merged with the Earth Titan, on his rebellion. Enraged by his betrayal, it summons an army of Titans to deal with the Lord Commander before leaving. However, Lord Commander effortlessly slaughters all of the Titans Invictus had summoned, before setting off on a mission to kill Invictus within its prison.

In "The Devil's Den", Ash, after betraying the Team Squad, arrives to Invictus' prison with Little Cato, and Invictus welcomes them both, expressing elation when Ash pledges her allegiance to it. Soon after, Gary, Avocato, and H.U.E. arrive to rescue Little Cato from Ash and Invictus, prompting the latter to summon an army of Zombie Garys to deal with them. However, the undead army is quickly vaporized by Lord Commander, who arrives to kill Invictus. However, Ash easily defeats Lord Commander, allowing Gary, Avocato, and H.U.E. to escape with Little Cato. Ash pursues the Team Squad, stopping them before they could escape via the Hyper-Transdimensional Bridge. When Mooncake attempts to fight Ash off, she captures Mooncake and presumably kills him by draining him of his powers. Ash then transfers Mooncake's power to Invictus, allowing it to break free of its prison. Freed, Invictus punishes the Lord Commander by encasing him in a crystal prison and leaves him to rot in its former prison. Invictus then violently breaks through Final Space and enters the main universe, ready to unleash destruction and chaos upon the mortal realm as it did thousands of years ago.

## Appearance

Invictus' physical form that is seen after escaping Final Space resembles a colossal demonic Titan-like figure with five glowing pink eyes, pitch-black skin, pink lines on its chest, pink smoke-like appendages all over its body, and massive horns. Its mouth and nose resemble those of a cow skull.

Invictus' astral form that it is most often seen using is a floating, demonic face which bears a heavy resemblance to its true form but less detailed, more faded and having a fire-like appearance.

While imprisoned, Invictus appears as a massive, moving yet unblinking eye with a dark pink iris and pitch black pupil. When Invictus is freed from its prison and escapes Final Space, it briefly takes on the form of a massive ball of red energy with green eyes.

## Personality

“*Your soul will fall shackled to the horror of an infinite nightmare.*”
―Invictus
Invictus is a mysterious, purely evil cosmic force that desires solely to see the universe end so it can be restarted in its own image, and takes immense pleasure in causing as much suffering as possible to get there, no matter how minuscule or cruel. Invictus is shown to be incredibly malevolent and manipulative as it corrupted the Titans and imprisoned Bolo for thousands of years, caused Jack to become the Lord Commander, and destroyed Ash's relationship with the Team Squad by framing Gary for the death of Fox, causing her to betray her former surrogate family and join Invictus in its goal to lay waste to the universe. Invictus is extremely cunning and expertly skilled in manipulating others, as shown with how it turned Ash against the Team Squad. While turning the Serepentian against the Team Squad, Ash fell for every single trick that Invictus pulled to sway her to its side to the extant that she went from hating it as much as the other members of the Team Squad, to becoming blindly loyal to it, and it tricked her into believing that Invictus' side is the good one, despite all of the atrocities Invictus has committed, as well as how obvious it was that Invictus murdered Fox.

## Relationships

### Gary Goodspeed

Invictus has a special hatred for Gary, as the latter is the one who always prevented Invictus from escaping its prison. Gary's friendship with Mooncake is also its greatest obstacle to capturing the planet-destroyer in order to escape. It is shown that Invictus keep hundreds of corpses of Garys from alternate timelines in its dimension, and part of its coercion of Ash involves trying to turn her against Gary. Although Invictus could easily kill Gary if it truly wanted to, it is implied that Invictus has the far more insidious plan of for Gary that involves destroying or taking away everything he cherishes, and then kill him when he reaches the point of absolute despair.

### Mooncake

It is shown that Invictus has a strange but malevolent obsession with Mooncake, seeing him as a tool that can be used to destroy its prison and escape Final Space. In "The Ventrexian" Invictus is shown sending the Lord Commander to capture Mooncake, and remains determined to capture Mooncake even after Lord Commander betrays it. In "The Devil's Den", Invictus is successfully able to use Mooncake to escape its prison, and is shown to have possibly destroyed Mooncake along with Ash while breaking out of Final Space, no longer seeing use in Mooncake as a means to escape.

## Quotes

* "*Our work isn't done, child. It's only just begun*."
* "*You cannot hold me. I'm coming. I'm coming.*"
* "But Gary. *All is already lost.*"
* "Do you think that because I can't be seen, I'm gone?"
* "Aw, what gave it away?"
* "He stole your son away from you, turned him against you. Kill him. *Kill him*."
* "The last thing you will see is me *RIPPING YOUR HEART OUT OF YOUR CHEST!*"
* "I FOUND YOU. BEND AND BECOME VOICELESS."
* "I am Invictus, and this is my prison. You, my child, will help me escape."
* "The more energy I absorb, the more power I'll have to break free of this chains and consume life across every dimension."
* "The souls of these prisoners strengthen me. But they are not enough. I need the key. I need *Mooncake*."
* "I am protecting him from the fool who died a thousand deaths, preventing me from escaping this prison... The Gary."
* "How blind you are. He is a crusader who's saved no one. A jackal that will kill everything in his path, including your brother."
* "You have two paths ahead of you, my child. Stay with The Gary to your doom, or join me and burn this universe to nothingness, so that all of us can begin again."
* "Three days to choose your path. My power is increasing. Soon, nothing will hold me back."
* "You will lose, The Gary. She belongs to me now. You lost the moment you let her go."
* "You've proven to be quite a letdown. My chorus grows louder with each new life. But we're still missing the key."
* "The Gary? I've killed him many times."
* "My patience with you grows weak. Bring him to me. Or meet the fate of the ones I find *useless*."
* "Your insolence will be the death of you!"
* “Lord Commander. You were supposed to bring me MOONCAKE!”
* “You defied me!”
* "This is not a promise kept. This is a rebellion started. Let me remind you... who I am."
* "Oh, poor girl. Come home. Think of it, Ash. A world without death. Where you and Fox can be together again. Let them all die, my child, so all of us can live."
* "Welcome home, my child."
* "Yes-s-s-s-s-s-s-s."
* "I could have shown you what real power was. But you are nothing more than an worthless heretic."
* "I want you to rot away for an eternity."

## Trivia

* Invictus is a word originating from Latin. It is a Latin word that means “Unconquered”
* Invictus’ name is also derived from a poem from an English poet named William Ernest Henley who lived in England during the Victorian Era.
* The backstory of how Invictus corrupted most of Titans and got sealed in Final Space is a reference to the Origin of Satan from Christianity. A lot of Christians believed that Satan was once an angel named Lucifer, who was created by God Who was mightier than all the other angels in heaven. However, Lucifer grew arrogant and rebelled against God in an attempt to overthrow him, manipulating a third of God’s angels into joining him but was ultimately defeated by God with help from his archangel Michael and was casted out from Heaven and sent into Hell.
* Although Invictus is the true antagonist of *Final Space*, it does not play a crucial role in the series until the Season 2 premiere "The Toro Regatta".

## Gallery

Invictus possessing GaryInvictus possessing AvocatoBolo in the process of being possessed by InvictusInvictus possessing FoxInvictus in the Season 3 teaserInvictus disguised as Bolo.