Lusus
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Lusus naturae ("freaks of nature"), also known as custodians (although custodian appears to refer to the role
while lusus refers to the creatures themselves), are the Hivebent equivalent to a Guardian. They look after the young trolls while the adults besiege other star systems in the name of Alternian glory. It is also observed that a trolls' gender matches that of their lusus.
In Latin, the plural of "lusus" is "lusus". In English, "lusus", "lususes", "lusii" and "lusi" have all been used.
Trolls and their custodians have a peculiar arrangement of codependency. The lusus behaves as a lifelong bodyguard, caretaker, and visceral sort of mentor, while the young troll must learn to function as a sort of zookeeper. They are almost always seen in some variation of Hero Mode, especially those of the Sea Dwellers.
They are horrifying beasts found in the ceremonial brooding caverns once the young trolls have completed their many dangerous trials. A troll's lusus is dependent on their blood color, as seen here and there, and possibly by gender as well. Together the young troll and custodian surface from the subterranean vaults and build a new hive using carpenter droids.
It was revealed that all but one of the trolls' lusus would die (Aradia's Lusus being already dead) due to either the effects of the Mobius Double Reacharound Virus or the game itself, and would then be used to prototype their respective troll's Kernelsprite. They were all prototyped before entering the medium so the troll's enemies have all their characteristics. Through the prototyping the lusus gained the ability to talk with their charges for the first time.
The lususprites seem to have all died, either through the end of the game itself or because of Jack Noir.
The presence of lusus-like frightening fauna in the jungle surrounding Jake's house is implied to be due to the influence of Betty Crocker.
Openbound seems to imply that each pre-Scratch troll has the same Lusus species as a caretaker as their post-Scratch counterpart, with the possible exception of Meenah. The same may be true for all Ancestors, as at least Mindfang and Redglare had the same type of Lusus as their descendants. This would again have at least two exceptions, because the Sufferer was raised by the Dolorosa and the Handmaid was raised by Doc Scratch, thus neither had a Lusus.
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Ram lusus
Aradia's lusus is a ram-like creature with horns similar to her own. Since she died well before the game of Sgrub in a chain of events stemming from a roleplaying accident, Aradia's lusus is the only one not prototyped into a kernelsprite.
Vriska initially used her mind control powers to throw Tavros off a cliff, crippling him. In response, Aradia summoned the spirits of all the trolls Vriska had killed and set them upon her. At the urging of Doc Scratch, Vriska retaliated by using her abilities to take control of Sollux, forced him to fly to Aradia's home, and consume a jar of mind honey. This caused him to accidentally unleash a burst of psionic energy, killing Aradia and destroying her house with her lusus inside. It took quite a while before Aradia could get revenge for this.
It is possible that Aradia's lusus is now among the 'voices of the dead' talking to her. One implication of this, if confirmed, is that her lusus is also in control of her fetch modus.
Fairy bulls
Tavros' lusus, strangely enough, is a fairy/bull hybrid barely any bigger than Tavros' head. His name is Tinkerbull. They seem to have a very good relationship, often playing Fiduspawn together, and accompanying him on his Flarp adventures.
He appears to have been killed by Tavros, who had inadvertently crushed him underneath his wheelchair in a particularly cruel twist of fate for poor Tavros. Later, Tinkerbull is prototyped into Tavros' kernelsprite, seen floating outside of his transported hive here.
Tavros has stated that, since Tinkerbull can now talk as a result of his prototyping, he is "really smart" and appears to consult him for advice.
Tinkerbull or one of his species was found on post-Scratch Jade's Island, mistaken for an enemy, and was shot in the head by Jake English. The next page implies there are more of Tinkerbull's species on the island. This is later affirmed when a swarm of them are seen flying through the air slightly later.
Unlike other lusii-like fauna found in Jake's island, they aren't hostile or indifferent to Jake's presence and are in fact gentle and docile to him.
The name likely comes from a portmanteau of Bull, which is the symbols for the Taurus zodiac sign, and Tinkerbell, the main fairy from Peter Pan, a movie that Tavros enjoys thoroughly (the troll version, Pupa Pan, that is).
Bicyclops
Sollux's lusus is a large two-headed, horned giant called a Bicyclops. He has one eye on each head, one red and one blue, fitting with Sollux's red/blue theme, and a mouth below each eye with two fangs. He eats mind honey, harvested from Sollux's beehouse mainframes, to "keep him from being an idiot all the time".
Sollux chains him to the roof of his communal hive stem (apparently the troll equivalent of an apartment building).
He was killed by a catastrophic release of Sollux's psionic energy that demolished the upper levels of his hive, as a result of inadvertently consuming mind honey. Later, Bicyclopsprite is seen staring at Sollux's bloody corpse.
The term "biclops dad" has been used in Openbound. Notably the relation between Mituna Captor and his biclops dad seems to be an inversion of Sollux's relation to his Lusus.
Crab lusus
Karkat's lusus is a towering, bipedal crab monster with a taste for chilled roe cubes. He is very crabby and Karkat is often forced to fight him to calm him down. It seems Karkat cares very much for his lusus, at least enough to draw a picture of him and pin it to his fridge.
He was killed when Karkat's computer exploded as a result of running Sollux Captor's Mobius Double Reacharound Virus, thereby implementing the curse that possibly leads to the death of the other trolls' lusus as well.
As a sprite, he was seen at the end of the Midnight Crew Intermission. Some members of the community have affectionately named Karkat's Lusus "Crabdad".
Curiously, a much larger version of its kind (Which has a tail, a trait Karkat's lusus lacked) can be seen roaming the forest on post-Scratch Jade's Island near Jake's house. He and Jake engage in a Strife, in which Jake fires at him with two pistols while flying through the air dramatically. After a few shots, the lusus staggers away with visible candy red bullet wounds, confirming its until then unknown blood color. Interestingly, during this Strife it was referred to as a "crabdad", possibly indicating that this has become the official name for its species.
He was apparently created by the followers of The Sufferer, so that future mutantbloods would have a lusus to tend to them.
Cat lusus
Nepeta's lusus, Pounce de Leon, is a feline creature with two mouths, roughly the size of an earth Pantherinae. It is pawssibly the cutest and purrhaps the bestest kitty you have ever s33n!. Her name is an obvious reference to Ponce de Leon, a famous explorer who sought the Fountain of Youth; she and Nepeta often went on adventures together to search for the "fountain of cute". Nepeta would ride on Pounce's back until Pounce got tired, at which point Pounce would ride Nepeta.
Pounce de Leon was crushed when Nepeta's hive caved in for unknown reasons, probably due to a meteor.
Another of its kind (potentially Meulin's Lusus as she is seen in the same area) is seen in Openbound and referred to as "cat mom".
Mother Grubs
- Main article: Mother Grub
Kanaya's lusus is a Virgin Mother Grub that gave up her responsibility to produce eggs. It is an honor to have one become your lusus.
She has a skull-like face, lips, and two horns, one of them bent like Kanaya's.
It is possibly based on the Grammia virgo, or Virgin Tiger Moth.
Kanaya was chosen by her lusus on account of her rare jade green blood, protecting her from the various threats of the desert that her hive occupies. Kanaya's hive was built underneath the sand, the seed planted through use of her lusus' remarkable burrowing skills.
Kanaya's lusus apparently died of natural causes, as a Mother Grub who renounces brooding has a more limited lifespan. Kanaya believes her death, and by extension the deaths of the other lusus, are not an effect of the Mobius Double Reacharound Virus, as Karkat and Sollux believe, but instead are a consequence of playing Sgrub. After she dies, Kanaya saws open the abdomen of her lusus, removing a mysterious sphere covered with what look like troll horns called a Matriorb, which can be used to create a new Mother Grub. Doing this is part of Kanaya fulfilling "her end of the bargain".
Mothersprite is the first troll Kernelsprite we see communicating with her charge, comforting her after she discovered that Vriska Serket had flushed feelings for Tavros. Her head is really big.
Dragon lusus
Terezi's lusus is a large, sightless dragon like an olm. The species is blind until maturity and must learn to survive without the benefit of sight.
Terezi was not directly raised by her lusus, as the hatching of her egg would tip the Doomsday Scale and cause the end of the world. However, her Lusus would communicate with her telepathically during her sleep. After Terezi's accident, it was her lusus that helped teach her the skills to function without vision- through smelling and tasting her surroundings, much like a dragon. By doing so, Terezi was able to connect with her awakened dream self.
Later, the heat of a meteor-sparked forest fire causes the lusus' egg to hatch as Terezi arrives. She dies shortly thereafter, struck by a meteor; presumably due to an inability to see them raining down at the time of her hatching. Her corpse was later picked up and deposited into Terezi's kernelsprite by Gamzee, allowing the two to have audible conversations.
Dragonsprite was later seen around Terezi's hive on her planet. She seems to take a very friendly, excited, even saccharine tone when communicating with her.
In the post-scratch session, one of her kind can be seen flying above Jake's island.
Due to its late hatching, the lusus would have no means of naming Terezi through noises, as other lusii do. Thusly, how exactly Terezi was named is unknown, although it could ostensibly have been achieved by the Lusus's telepathic communication with Terezi.
Spider lusus
Vriska's lusus resembles a gargantuan spider. Her face bears a striking resemblance to someone else. One of her fangs is bent downwards, like one of Vriska's horns. Vriska refers to her as Spidermom.
Her lusus eats young trolls, and is constantly hungry. Vriska uses her Flarp sessions to procure more food for her lusus. The massive lusus dwells in webs woven between the canyons surrounding Vriska's castle-like hive, below Vriska's chain-suspended doomsday device.
She was killed after the Catenative Doomsday Dice Cascader malfunctioned and exploded, causing the rockface that supported part of Equius' hive to collapse and crush her. Vriska, having arrived shortly beforehand, put her lusus out of her misery by rolling her set of enchanted dice. It unleashed one of its most powerful attacks, summoning a massive guillotine to behead the Lusus. Presumably, the decapitated part was used to prototype her kernelsprite.
Vriska doesn't exactly like her lusus, saying that she sucks to Kanaya and that feeding her is a huge pain. Thus, after creating her sprite, they tend to avoid each other.
Vriska's lusus has no official name, but a sentence "au revoir, spidermom" has led many fans to calling "her" "Spidermom", which reverses Karkat's lusus' naming.
Centaur lusus
Equius' lusus, Aurthour, looks like a centaur, but with an udder and a mustache. He resembles a creature from one of the author's older works, Humanimals. In addition to being a guardian, Aurthour is Equius' butler, providing him with his own Lusus Milk.
It is plausible that the name for Aurthour is derived from the milk brand 'McArthur'.
Equius cares for or respects Aurthour on a certain level, and refers to him as "simply the best [butler] there is."
Aurthour's species is said to be one of the strongest kinds of lusus, which is why he became Equius' custodian; no other lusus could handle Equius' ridiculous strength. However, Aurthour bruises incredibly often, even as a result of a grateful pat on the head. His frequent bruising is most likely because Equius is too strong even for monsters.
He was killed when the Catenative Doomsday Dice Cascader malfunctioned and blew up part of the rockface that supported the section of Equius' hive. He was in the section of the house that crumbled, and he plummeted to the ground below.
His corpse was then later retrieved from the rubble to be deposited into Equius' kernelsprite. Aurthoursprite was later seen floating around Equius's hive.
Several members of this species roam Jake's Island, coming in all sizes. Some are several stories tall, dropping manure and milk onto those unfortunate enough to stand below.
In A6I2, Aurthour or an identical musclebeast was spotted at Andrew Hussie's place, having supplied the milk for Spades Slick while Hussie nursed him back to health. There is no plausible reason why he would be there, besides the fact that Hussie wills it.
Goat lusus
Gamzee's lusus is a giant goat-like sea creature. He had apparently often been out to sea instead of caring for Gamzee as a custodian is supposed to. Despite this, Gamzee appears to care enough about him to go keep a look out for him, suggesting that he trusts him.
He is based on Capricornus, the mythical aquatic-goat creature represented in Capricorn's constellation.
He was speared by what appears to be a harpoon or something similar, possibly even by Eridan, and died while Gamzee comforted him.
The community has taken to affectionately referring to him as Goatdad.
Like other lusii, a member of Gamzee's Lusus' species has been seen on Jake English's Island, in the lake surrounding the Frog Temple. Jake says that the creature "doesn't back down", and its wild, angry eyes suggest that its own nature reflects that of Gamzee's darker sides.
Seahorse lusus
Eridan's lusus appears to be a large sea horse, probably known as a "skyhorse". Eridan rides upon his lusus' back, as he floats or glides through the air. He is also seen hunting with his Lusus serving as a noble steed.
He is the only troll to accessorize his Lusus, equipping him with a violet saddle and reins. Within the privacy of Eridan's hive, his lusus does not wear riding gear. The fanbase has taken to calling him Seahorsedad, much like Crabdad and Spidermom. The term "seahorse dad" was also used in Openbound.
Gl'bgolyb
Gl'bgolyb, otherwise known as "The Rift's Carbuncle", "Emissary to the Horrorterrors", or in more hushed tones, "Speaker of the Vast Glub", is a colossal, squid-like abomination that serves as the shared lusus of Feferi and her ancestor, the Condesce, and other fuchsia bloods on Alternia. It is implied that her existence was brought about by Doc Scratch and L
rd English.
Gl'bgolyb dwarfs all other lusii (as well as most architecture) by a massive degree – Karkat describes her as AN OUTER FUCKING GOD THE SIZE OF A CITY. Upon close examination, it can be seen that she has two mouths, one on each end of her body, similar to Fluthlu.
Being the only fuchsia blood troll on Alternia, Feferi was automatically assigned to her, however Gl'bgolyb continued to serve as the lusus of Feferi's ancestor, who was Empress during the events of Hivebent. When heiresses came of age they were expected to challenge the current Empress for the throne due to the demands of Gl'bgolyb and troll society. However by the time of the events of Hivebent, Her Imperious Condescension had piloted her flagship to such a distance as to weaken her bond to Gl'bgolyb, causing its allegiance to sway to Feferi who was protected from any assassination attempts by the Condesce.
According to Feferi, Gl'bgolyb frequently whispers to her. Some of what she says are prophecies, including that of the "world's end" and of uniting the two races. She loves her lusus very much, although she has expressed that "keeping her voice down" is a burden to her. She does this by feeding her the dead lusii of other trolls with Eridan's help. This is necessary due to the fact that if Gl'bgolyb's voice is ever raised above a whisper, trolls would start dying. The psychically susceptible lower castes would die first, and if the horrorterror raised her voice to a shout, every troll on the planet other than Feferi would perish. Worst of all, if she were to ever get "really upset", she might release "the Vast Glub", a psychic shockwave that would exterminate every single troll in the galaxy, again excepting the fuchsiablooded Condesce and Feferi.
Gl'bgolyb eventually unleashed the Vast Glub while Karkat was attempting to get Sollux into The Medium, killing him (though Feferi would shortly after revive him as his Dersite dream self). Doc Scratch stated that the Vast Glub was Gl'bgolyb's "swan song", implying that after releasing the Vast Glub it would die, probably because of hunger, exhaustion, or both.
Feferi states that her lusus "fell into" the kernelsprite, and the effects of this prototyping can be seen on one of the underlings here. Prototyping Feferi's kernelsprite with Gl'bgolyb gave the Black King the ability to also release the Vast Glub. Aradia was able to counter this ability with the assistance of an army of alternate future selves from doomed timelines.
The pronunciation of Gl'bgolyb's name is a pun on "glub glub".
Other lusii
The lusus of other trolls have been seen, all of which had been killed by Eridan to feed Feferi's gargantuan lusus. Among these lusi have been a flying, cloud-dwelling whale with purple blood which the fanbase often calls the "Sky Whale" (it has also been seen around Jake's Island), and various other reptilian or serpentine lusus with varying blood colors. These lusi are shown briefly, and don't have much relevance in the overall plotline. Although interestingly, one of them appears to have the same blood color as Gl'Bgolyb.
Redglare had a dragon lusus, named Pyralspite. It is most likely a fully matured member of the same species as Terezi's lusus. Pyralspite was larger than a ship; when it flew over the cove where Mindfang kept her fleet of ships, its shadow was cast over the entire area and it blocked out the entire moon with its silhouette. Its red eyes were bright enough to damage troll vision and, in the post-Scratch version of Earth, another member of Pyralspite's race was able to cause an explosion with its glare when it encountered Jake and Lil Seb flying through the sky. Redglare and Pyralspite continued to work together well into Redglare's adult life, with Pyralspite serving as Redglare's mount; this indicates that this may be the normal procedure in troll-lusus relationships after the troll reaches maturity. It is also mentioned that Pyralspite swallowed Marquise Spinneret Mindfang's lusus whole, although hers was never seen in the story.
Although technically not one, Jade Harley's First Guardian dog Becquerel is considered her lusus by the trolls. And in all practical sense, he does essentially serve the same purpose as one, being a white beast raising Jade.
Lusus Gallery
