Dark Messenger

* 8-Bit
* 16-Bit

    The **Dark Messenger** is a pseudo-boss in the Picnic Panic DLC of The Messenger. It and Dark Quarble are created via a voodoo ritual at the top of Fire Mountain due to Barma'thazël's handiwork. Ninja and Quarble must duel against their dark counterparts in a series of races inside the Voodoo Heart.

The Dark Messenger's outfit is a reskin option for Ninja, accompanied with accepting "THE DEAL" from the Voodoo Mask in New Game +.

## Profile

### Appearance

The Dark Messenger and Dark Quarble share the appearance of their normal counterparts, but they are shadowed in, have red glowing eyes, and have red glowing outlines around their bodies. 8-bit Dark Messenger is bluer in comparison to normal Ninja, and 16-bit Dark Messenger is always blurring into wavy static-like horizontal lines.

### Personality

Neither the Dark Messenger or Dark Quarble speak, but the Dark Messenger listens obediently to Barma'thazël's instructions as if it were a puppet. Dark Quarble closely follows the Dark Messenger around wherever it goes.

During a very specific race room (1W-4L), the Dark Messenger is placed on a moving platform near the top of the screen as Ninja struggles with obstacles at the bottom of the room. As the Dark Messenger is slowly escorted to the finish line, it playfully crouches up and down throughout the race, which would suggest it does have some form of self-awareness.

Dark Quarble reacts to pain from being damaged by the Voodoo Idols, sharing Quarble's typical shocked expression.

## Boss Fight

Ninja is pit in a series of races against the Dark Messenger. He must race to the finish line and attack the Voodoo Idol at the end of each course before his opponent does. The Voodoo Idol can be Rope Darted for quicker activation.

After the first tutorial room is finished, a progression bar with greed demon indicators appears at the top of the screen. The first to reach 5 wins will win the challenge. The number of current wins and losses determines which race room you encounter, with there being a total of 25 different race rooms.

## Main Story

Ninja reaches the top of Fire Mountain, where he encounters Barma'thazël holding the Phobekins hostage in a wooden cage. Barma'thazël traps Ninja using the nearby Voodoo Altar, creating evil clones of Ninja and Quarble. He explains that Voodoo Idols reside in the Voodoo Heart, which are capable of damaging greed demons. Ninja must reach the Voodoo Idols before his dark counterpart does, otherwise he risks losing his protector, Quarble. Barma'thazël teleports away with the Phobekins cage, followed shortly by Quarble teleporting on scene. Quarble urges Ninja to prevent the situation, stating he would rather not die. The Dark Messenger and Dark Quarble hop into the Voodoo Heart, so Ninja and Quarble take pursuit.

Ninja races against the Dark Messenger within the Voodoo Heart in a series of different courses. The Voodoo Idol at the end of each course must be attacked, which deals damage to the opponent's greed demon. If the Dark Messenger manages to win 5 races before Ninja does, Quarble dies, but he and Ninja are rescued by Quillble, who rewinds time back to the beginning of the challenge. Eventually, Ninja wins 5 races against the Dark Messenger, destroying Dark Quarble.

Ninja confronts Barma'thazël and the Dark Messenger deep within the Voodoo Heart, but Barma'thazël reveals it was all part of his plan for Dark Quarble to die, since it was necessary to untether the Dark Messenger from its greed demon. Barma'thazël and the Dark Messenger "do the thing," each raising an arm into the air and teleporting away. They return back in the form of a large being, reminiscent of the Arcane Golem. Ninja, The Artificer, and The Shopkeeper form the Arcane Golem and defeat the transformed Barma'thazël in a boxing match. After Barma'thazël and the Dark Messenger are defeated, the two are separated from each other. However, the Dark Messenger is nowhere to be seen and is replaced by a floating orb of pulsating dark energy. Barma'thazël explains that this was also part of his plan, and he absorbs the dark energy into a magic seed, then escapes by teleporting away.

## Trivia

* The Dark Messenger will not start moving during the races until you walk forward to cross an invisible threshold. (However, there is a glitch where you will sometimes slide forward a bit if you Rope Darted the Voodoo Idol in the previous room, which may result in triggering the threshold.)

## Achievements

*For the main article, see Achievements.*

## Gallery

### 8-Bit Sprites

Dark Messenger's 8-bit talk portrait icon without the scroll.Dark Messenger's 8-bit talk portrait icon with the scroll.Dark Messenger's 8-bit spritesheet without the scroll.Dark Messenger's 8-bit spritesheet with the scroll.Dark Messenger's 8-bit death spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 8-bit scroll-holding spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 8-bit Game Over spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 8-bit Power Seal-collecting sprite.Dark Messenger's 8-bit door-entering sprite.8-bit spritesheet of Dark Messenger shrinking.Dark Messenger's surfing spritesheet.Spritesheet of the Dark Messenger and Ruxxtin surfing together.Spritesheet of the Dark Messenger receiving a Game Over while surfing with Ruxxtin.Dark Quarble's 8-bit spritesheet.Voodoo Heart's area preview.
### 16-Bit Sprites

Dark Messenger's 16-bit spritesheet without the scroll.An amalgamate of many 16-bit spritesheets of the Dark Messenger with the scroll.Dark Messenger's 16-bit hurt sprite.Dark Messenger's 16-bit climbing spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 16-bit attacking while climbing spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 16-bit swimming spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 16-bit swim dash spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 16-bit wall kick sprite.Dark Messenger's 16-bit death spritesheet.Sprite of the Dark Messenger passing on the scroll.Combined two sprites for a full Dark Messenger passing on the scroll.Dark Messenger's 16-bit Game Over spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 16-bit Power Seal-collecting spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 16-bit back spritesheet.Dark Messenger's Manfred-riding spritesheet.Dark Messenger's Manfred-riding sprite.Dark Messenger's rocket-riding spritesheet.Dark Messenger's 16-bit door-entering sprite.16-bit spritesheet of the Dark Messenger shrinking.Dark Quarble's 16-bit spritesheet.
## References

> "*For the Dark Messenger's full potential to be unleashed, it first needed to be... untethered from it's [sic] Greed Demon.*"
> ― *Barma'thazël*
>
>
2. ↑ Thierry's Lore Tidbits#December 13, 2018