Metabarons

The Metabarons
Album cover of Path of the Warrior.
Publication information
Publisher	Les Humanoïdes Associés (French) Arboris B.V. (Dutch) 'Norma Editorial, S.A. (Spanish) DC Comics (English) Humanoids (English)
Publication date	1992–2003
Main character(s)	Othon von Salza Aghnar von Salza Steelhead Aghora Nameless
Creative team
Written by	Alejandro Jodorowsky
Artist(s)	Juan Giménez Das Pastoras

The Metabarons or The Saga of The Meta-Barons is a science fantasy comic series relating the history of a dynasty of perfect warriors known as the Metabarons. The Metabarons series was written by creator Alejandro Jodorowsky and illustrated by Argentinian artist Juan Gimenez. The series, published by Humanoïdes Associés, is complete, the last volume having been released at the end of 2003.

The first appearance of a Metabaron (chronologically the last of the Metabarons) was May 1981 in the Incal comic book series as a supporting character. This was followed by a series of prequels that concerned this character's origin, presented as the narration of the droid Tonto to the droid Lothar, of his masters' achievements. The series takes place over the course of several generations, and chronicles the life of each of the five Metabarons. The stories are characterized by science fantasy on an epic scale, a background against which a space opera reminiscient of Greek tragedy plays out. The stories are also heavily influenced by Frank Herbert's Dune novels.

Mythology

Rituals

Every Metabaron is conceived by his mother in a non-natural way (eg. by cloning or incest). In his youth he is handicapped by his father so that his endurance to pain is tested, and that he receives a powerful mechanical body part as a replacement for the destroyed limb - making every Metabaron a cyborg. The rite of succession is equally as cruel and uncompromising. In each generation, the son and heir must eventually face his father in a battle to the death. These battles have taken many forms, from hand-to-hand combat to dogfighting space duels. The rite of succession is only achieved once the cursed son succeeds in killing his father.

Bushitaka

The Bushitaka is the strict code of honor followed by the Metabarons, profoundly influenced by the Japanese bushido. It demands that the practitioner dedicate themselves to victory in all things at any cost. Compromise is never an option, and the only alternative to victory is death. Bushitaka demands that the practitioner stifle all emotion, even to the point of sacrificing their own family members in the pursuit of total victory.

Metabaronic Weaponry

Each Metabaron draws upon an array of advanced weaponry. These include cybernetically-implanted lasers, nanotech nuclear warheads implanted in the body, swords which can disintegrate in bursts of flame, and advanced spaceships. Many of the Metabarons also exhibit powerful psychic abilities.

The Dynasty

Family Tree of the Metabarons.

The story of the Metabarons begins on an isolated world, Marmola, a world full of marble. A small tribe, ruled by Berard of Castaka, lives there. They have a trade going with big blocks of marble, which they cut with manual hyperlasers. Other than marble, the planet possesses a material far more valuable than marble. It's a blue, jelly-like substance, called epiphyte, whose properties defie the laws of gravity. The existence of the substance has been a sacred secret of the Castaka's for many generations. Until an accident happens and the secret must be sacrificed to save the life of Othon von Salza, the son-in-law of Baron Berard of Castaka. Othon was not happy the heritage was sacrificed to save his life, with this knowledge, Berard knew Othon was worthy to pass him the spirit living in every Castaka. Not long after the news got spread about the epiphyte, the planet gets swarmed by the forces of the Black Endoguard, eager to seize the epiphyte for themselves. The tribe is outnumbered, yet they rather fight than surrender. Death is the only alternative to victory. They fight using only traditional weapons, so they die as true warriors. Othon breaks his son, Bari, his legs, so he won't get himself killed in the fight. When the battle comes to his end, Othon is the only one still standing. Together with Bari they're the only survivors of the Castaka tribe. The empiral couple of the Purple Endoguard is astonished by the achievement of Othon and rewards him. Othon shows them where the epiphyte was hidden, in return they give him a reasonable percentage of the new market for anti-G Technology, a new planet with their palace is transferred stone by stone to and a gift for his son, to restore the joy his broken legs took away. The emperor gives him a horse, an extinct species brought back with genetic manipulation. The gift wasn't unnoticed, on they're new planet, pirates invade and steal the horse. Othon goes after them and kills them one by one. But due to the fog, he accidentally kills his son. He also got shot, which leaves him castrated. Now Othon has no son and is unable to father a second son.

Othon is devastated. He turns his back on pure martial arts and invests a large part of his fortune in the development of the first metabaronic weapons. And also began the tradition of cybernetic implants, by incorporating a multi-protonic pelvis. Othon becomes a mercenary of extraordinary skill and power. By destroying 100,000 pirate vessels by himself he and all of his decendants get rewarded with the title of Metabaron, the greatest warrior in the galaxy. The empire vows they will search throughout the galaxy to find a gift which will make him feel like a man again. Later a woman, called Honorata, arrives at his palace, giving herself to Othon. Honorata says she can bear him a child if he brings a drip of his blood in her uterus. Two of Othon's lose servants get jealous and try to commit suicide, taking the pregnant Honorata with them. They jump of a tower, but Othon is quick enough to shoot a potion of epiphyte into Honorate, letting her hover away. The potion hit her in her belly, infecting the baby, Aghnar von Salza. Othon is disgusted he thinks his son will never be a good warrior, being weightless. He exiled him and lets Honorata train him by herself. When Aghnar is seven years old, he comes back to his father to show he has what it takes to be a true warrior. Othon made him a machine to fight with, when Aghnar defeats it Othon accepts him and continues his training. Honorata then confesses she was meant to give birth to a hermaphrodite, instead of a son. She was send to this planet by the priestesses of Shabda-Oud, as it was propheted that she would bear a perfect warrior. Because she didn't listen, the Shabda-Oud triggered the micro-H bombes planted into her heart, destroying the whole planet with her. She warned Othon and Aghnar soon enough to escape. Aghnar was dieing from a lung infection. For him to be sure his son was strong and worthy enough to avenge his mother, he forced Aghnar to fight him to death. Hereby Aghnar seized the title of Metabaron for himself.

Aghnar wed the Princess Oda, but shortly after their wedding Oda suffered debilitating injuries. His mother Honorata used her psychic abilities to heal Oda, but was left crippled by the ordeal and forced to seclude herself. Oda bore Aghnar a son. However, it was eventually discovered that Oda's soul was destroyed, and Honorata had transferred her consciousness into Oda's body. Disgusted with his act of incest, Aghnar shot his child in the head.

Oda/Honorata could not bear to see her son/grandson slain. She fashioned a cybernetic head for the child, who would then be known as Steelhead. Like Aghnar, she trained Steelhead to become a perfect warrior. Steelhead was cruel and merciless, and returned to confront and kill his father Aghnar, in the process murdering his mother. Steelhead would eventually wed the Princess Doña Vicenta. Vicenta bore him twins, but the twins were deformed and the male child would soon die. Unable to bear the thought of raising a daughter, Steelhead put the male's brain in the female's empty skull.

The androgynous Aghora would be trained as a warrior by Steelhead, and eventually faced his/her father in single combat. After taking his/her place as Metabaron, Aghora became a mercenary warrior, as his/her fathers had been. Aghora eventually wished for an heir, but was unwilling to mate with another man. Instead, he/she extracted the male cells from his/her own brain and implanted them in his/her womb, thereby creating a male clone, in a procedure that Tonto described as 'autoincest'. It was this child who would eventually become the Nameless Metabaron who continues to reign in the "present" issues of Incal.

Publication

French

The series has been published in French as follows:

La Caste des Méta-Barons

1. Othon le Trisaïeul - (Othon the Great-Great-Grandfather) (1992)
2. Honorata la Trisaïeule - (Honorata the Great-Great-Grandmother) (1993)
3. Aghnar le Bisaïeul - (Aghnar the Great-Grandfather) (1995)
4. Oda la Bisaïeule - (Oda the Great-Grandmother) (1997)
5. Tête-D'Acier l'Aîeul - (Steelhead the Grandfather) (1998)
6. Doña Vicenta Gabriela de Rokha l'Aïeule - (Doña Vicenta Gabriela de Rokha the Grandmother) (1999)
7. Aghora le Père-Mère - (Aghora the Father-Mother) (2002)
8. Sans Nom, le Dernier des Métabarons - (Nameless, the Last of the Metabarons) (2003)

A special volume, containing interviews with Jodorowsky and Gimenez as well as sketches, unseen art, and a short story concerning one of the Metabaron's ancestors, called La Maison des Ancêtres (The House of the Ancestors) was released in 2000.

Castaka

This is a spin-off of the original series, it will consist of three albums. The artwork is by Das Pastoras because Juan Giménez is too busy with other projects.

1. Dayal, le Premier Ancêtre - (Dayal, the First Ancester) (2007)

English

The first six French albums were reprinted in English by Humanoids/DC Comics. These include:

1. Othon & Honorata (136 pages, 2004, ISBN 1-401203-62-0)
2. Aghnar & Oda (136 pages, 2004, ISBN 1-401203-81-7)
3. Steelhead & Doña Vicenta (136 pages, 2005, ISBN 1-401206-42-5)

Humanoids Publishing has plans to release the full series published so far. So far they have released:

1. Path of the Warrior (collects #1-5, 152 pages, 2001, ISBN 1-930652-47-X)
2. Blood and Steel (collects #6-10, 136 pages, 2003, ISBN 1-930652-24-0)
3. Poet and Killer (collects #11-14, 112 pages, 2002, ISBN 1-930652-23-2)
4. Immaculate Conception (collects #15-17, 80 pages, 2003, ISBN 1-930652-93-3)
5. Alpha and Omega (One-shot; additional art by Travis Charest and Moebius, 48 pages, 2002, ISBN 1-930652-41-0)

Album Covers

La Caste des Méta-Barons

• 0. La Maison des Ancêtres (2000)
  0. La Maison des Ancêtres
  (2000)
• 1. Othon le Trisaïeul (1992)
  1. Othon le Trisaïeul
  (1992)
• 2. Honorata la Trisaïeule (1993)
  2. Honorata la Trisaïeule
  (1993)
• 3. Aghnar le Bisaïeul (1995)
  3. Aghnar le Bisaïeul
  (1995)
• 4. Oda la Bisaïeule (1997)
  4. Oda la Bisaïeule
  (1997)
• 5. Tête-D'Acier l'Aîeul (1998)
  5. Tête-D'Acier l'Aîeul
  (1998)
• 6. Doña Vicenta Gabriela de Rokha l'Aïeule (1999)
  6. Doña Vicenta Gabriela de Rokha l'Aïeule
  (1999)
• 7. Aghora le Père-Mère (2002)
  7. Aghora le Père-Mère
  (2002)

Castaka

• 1. Dayal, le Premier Ancêtre (2007)
  1. Dayal, le Premier Ancêtre
  (2007)

The Metabarons (Humanoids/DC Comics reprints)

• 1. Othon & Honorata (2004)
  1. Othon & Honorata
  (2004)
• 2. Aghnar & Oda (2004)
  2. Aghnar & Oda
  (2004)
• 3. Steelhead & Doña Vicenta (2005)
  3. Steelhead & Doña Vicenta
  (2005)

See also

• Metabarons Roleplaying Game

External links

• Official Metabarons website
• Juan Gimenez's Official Website