Corypheus

“Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty.”

Corypheus
Title	High Priest of Dumat (formerly) Magister (formerly) The Conductor
Race	Ghoul / Darkspawn
Gender	Male (formerly)
Class	Mage
Specialization	Blood Mage
Rank	Elite Boss
Affiliation	Tevinter Imperium (formerly) Darkspawn
Voice	David Sterne
Appearances	Dragon Age II - Legacy Heroes of Dragon Age Dragon Age: Inquisition

Corypheus is an ancient darkspawn who was trapped inside a prison built by Grey Wardens in the Vimmark Mountains.

Background

In the aftermath of the First Blight, the Grey Wardens discovered several darkspawn capable of thought and speech and prodigiously powerful magic and also able to command and lead portions of the darkspawn horde even in the absence of an Archdemon. The Grey Warden, Sashamiri, acting on the orders of Warden-Commander Farele, set a trap in the Vimmark Mountains to capture the most powerful of these creatures: Corypheus. The Wardens hoped they could use Corypheus as a weapon against the darkspawn, Warden-Commander Daneken eventually deemed the endeavour futile and had the prison sealed to bind Corypheus in perpetuity.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age II.

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Some time after the First Blight in -191 Ancient, the Grey Warden Sashamiri imprisoned Corypheus in a tower stemming from the Deep Roads in the middle of the Vimmark Mountains. Interrogation proved futile, as any Warden in his vicinity became mysteriously drawn to his influence. When removed from the area, they would have forgotten anything prior, and would be left dazed. This appears to be a type of Calling to anyone bearing the Taint, similar to that emitted by the Old Gods, which draws darkspawn and Warden alike to his prison.

Years before Hawke arrived in Kirkwall, Hawke's father Malcolm personally restored the seals on Corypheus' prison using blood magic, which the Wardens have used from untainted mages since before the founding of the Chantry. Prior to Malcolm, The Shame of Serault, former Marquis of Serault in Orlais, carried out the same ritual for the Wardens.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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Corypheus, believed to have been named Sethius Amladariswhen he was still human, is one of the seven Tevinter magisters who heeded the Old God's call and sought to enter the Fade to claim the Golden City. Each of the seven was a High Priest of one of the Old Gods; Corypheus served as a High Priest of Dumat. As the priests constantly schemed against each other for power, they hid their identities and assumed aliases to protect themselves. The magister who called himself "Corypheus", or "Conductor", was responsible for conducting the other six magisters in the complex ritual to gain entrance to the Fade.

This was during a time of great change for religion in Tevinter, transitioning as it was from a religious power to a merely political one. As a true believer, Corypheus made a desperate pilgrimage into the Fade with his fellow High Priests to reestablish their power and vindicate their faith, ostensibly at the behest of the Old Gods, only to discover what he perceived as an empty throne and Blight covering all.

As an individual, Corypheus carries all the hubris of the ancient Tevinter magisters, and looks down on all other beings, including fellow mages. To him, all elves are considered sniveling "rattus", Qunari are racial mistakes, other mages are weak and incompetent, etc.

Involvement

Dragon Age II

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age II.

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Corypheus is involved in the Legacy quest.

Janeka hoping to use Corpyheus as a weapon against the darkspawn, afflicts a faction of the Carta with the darkspawn taint in order to bind them to Corypheus and uses them to lure Hawke to the prison, in order to break his father's magical seals using their shared blood. Janeka successfully lures Hawke to the prison, however the former Warden-Commander Larius finds Hawke first and attempts to persuade Hawke to kill Corypheus rather than free him.

Eventually, the final seal is broken and Corypheus is freed. Corypheus demands that all present to show him the respect due a person of his status, as any citizen of the Imperium owes fealty to a Magister of Tevinter. Corypheus' ramblings lead Hawke and the others to conclude that he truly was one of the magisters who entered the so-called Golden City and returned as one of the first darkspawn. Before Hawke can explain, Corypheus decides that Hawke intends to bar his escape and attacks. After an exhaustive battle, Corypheus is narrowly defeated, however as Hawke delivers the final blow, Corypheus will look at Larius/Janeka and faintly smiles. Then as Corypheus is struck down, the Grey Warden can be seen shuddering before stumbling.

The Grey Warden survivor then ominously thanks Hawke for their freedom from Corypheus control and then leaves to inform the Grey Wardens of what has transpired.

When Varric recounts the encounter with Corypheus to Cassandra Pentaghast, she mentions that the Wardens she met at the ruins of the prison told her nothing of Janeka/Larius, suggesting the surviving Warden never returned to the Order.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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Corypheus in 9:41 Dragon

Unbeknownst to Hawke or the Grey Wardens, Corypheus uses the same ability as an Archdemon to transfer his essence through the taint and leaves the Grey Warden prison in the body of Janeka or Larius. Free of the prison, Corypheus' mind eventually recovers and he is able to think clearly once more. Deciding based on his experience at the Black City that both the Old gods and the more recent Maker were lies, Corypheus' resolves to end the search for religion completely. He decides to achieve this by attaining apotheosis through returning to the Black City and restoring the Tevinter Imperium to its former glory, finally creating a true deity capable of intervening in mortal affairs.

While posing as an ordinary Grey Warden Mage, Corpyheus is contacted by Bianca Davri who asks him to help investigate the red lyrium Varric found in the Primeval Thaig, although she was not aware that the Warden she spoke to was in fact Corypheus. Discovering that Red Lyrium is Lyrium which somehow carries the darkspawn taint, Corypheus seizes it as a new weapon in his arsenal, even grafting it to his own form and further enhancing his already formidable power.

Corypheus' settled on a design to reach the Fade physically once more and restore Tevinter by surreptitiously seizing control of or disabling the most powerful factions in southern Thedas. Corypheus is even able to sway some of the most powerful Demons in the fade to his cause. Corypheus achieves an alliance with Nightmare, an exceptionally powerful Fear demon and uses it to create a false version of Calling to deceive the Grey Wardens of Orlais, led by Warden-Commander Clarel de Chanson, into thinking they were dying. Believing this meant the death of the Wardens entirely and that Thedas would then inevitably fall during the sixth Blight, the Wardens became desperate. The Wardens were then tricked by Magister Livius Erimond into performing a blood magic ritual that allowed them to bind demons to their control, creating the perfect army to invade the Deep Roads and kill the remaining Old Gods before they could become Archdemons preventing any further blights. The ritual however had the side effect of leaving the Warden mages and the demons completely enslaved to Corypheus' will, giving Corpyheus an army of demons and powerful mages to use.

Corypheus augmented with Red Lyrium

Corypheus also forms the Venatori, a Tevinter nationalist supremacist cult, who believe that Corypheus will allow them to rule Thedas as god-kings in his stead once he returns to the Black City. Corypheus sent a Venatori Magister Gereon Alexius to Redcliffe to persuade the rebel mages to become his indentured servants in exchange for eventual Tevinter citizenship thus allowing them to escape the Templar Order and settle in the north. In fact the southern mages would only be used to bolster the numbers of the Venatori and serve as fodder in any future engagements.

Corypheus also set out to subvert the Templar Order and bring them under his control. With the Templars now separate from the Chantry who control the Lyrium trade with Orzammar, the Templars began looking for a new supply. Using Samson as an infiltrator, Corypheus gradually introduced red lyrium to the Templars, convincing them it was superior to ordinary lyrium. Since red lyrium carries the darkspawn taint through which Corypheus could project his will, it would grant Corypheus complete control of any Templar using it. Corypheus arranged for an Envy demon to replace Lord Seeker Lucius Corin and begin corrupting the Templar officers with red lyrium, aiming to eventually twist the bulk of the order into the monstrous Red Templars. Corypheus also uses red lyrium to transform a High dragon into a imitation of an archdemon, creating his Red lyrium dragon.

Corypheus was eventually presented with an opportunity to seize an elven artifact of unprecedented power called the Orb of Destruction. An Elven Mage presented the orb to Corypheus to unlock the Orb's true power as the mage was too weak after awakening from his long slumber to do it himself, not knowing the Elder One planned on making use of the ancient artifact to realize his dream of godhood. Corypheus absconded with the Orb and compelling his followers to refer to him by his new divine moniker: "The Elder One".

With his plans in motion to bring three armies under his control, Corypheus infiltrates the Chantry's peace conclave between the templar order and ambassadors of the mage rebellion at the Temple of Sacred Ashes. With the help of several controlled Grey Warden mages, Corypheus uses blood magic to sacrifices Divine Justinia V to power the orb and grant himself the the anchor allowing him to enter the fade at will. However the ritual is unwittingly interrupted by the future Inquisitor. As the Inquisitor picks up the Orb of Destruction, the anchor affixes to them instead and the disrupted ritual results in the Breach.

Inquisitor recruits the Mages:

After the newly reformed Inquisition negotiates an agreement with the rebel mages for their assistance in closing the breach, the Herald of Andraste manages to close the breach using the anchor. Samson and the Red templars launch an attack on their base at the village of Haven.

Inquisitor recruits the Templars:

After the newly reformed Inquisition negotiates an agreement with the rebel Templars for their assistance in closing the breach, the Herald of Andraste manages to close the breach using the anchor. Calpernia and the Venatori launch an attack on their base at the village of Haven.

Corypheus personally takes the field alongside his forces, even unleashing his Red lyrium dragon. Eventually Corypheus manages to corner the Herald and attempts to reclaim the anchor. Corypheus discovers that the anchor is permanent and cannot be removed. Though upset at this setback, Corypheus vows to start over and decides to kill the Herald to eliminate a potential rival, however the Herald fires the last remaining trebuchet resulting in an avalanche which buries the village and forces Corypheus to flee.

Corypheus then attempts to destabilize the Orlesian Empire to quash any further resistance in southern thedas. Taking advantage of the War of the Lions over the throne, Corypheus sways Grand Duchess Florianne de Chalons to his cause, offering her rulership of Thedas in return for murdering Empress Celene and framing Florianne's brother, Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons for the crime, elminating both candidates for the throne and leaving Orlais leaderless.

As the Inquisition foils the Venatori's attempts to raise a demon army and destabilize Orlais, Corypheus redirects most of his efforts searching for elven artifacts to achieve his end, aiming to gain through magic what he had failed to acquire through force and duplicity. Finally locating the Well of Sorrows at the Temple of Mythal in the Arbor Wilds, Corypheus deploys all his remaining forces to breach the temple and claim the ancient knowledge within.

Inquisitor recruits the Templars:

Corypheus also uses the Shrine of Dumat as his personal base where he imprisons Magister Erasthenes to test the binding spell he intends to use to hold the vessel for the Well of Sorrows. The binding compels the prisoner to answer any question put to them honestly and allowing Corypheus to access the well's knowledge whenever he wished without risking his safety by exposing himself to well's side effects.

The Inquisition meanwhile rallies all of its allies to attack Corypheus' troops in the arbor wilds, resulting in a pitched battle along the route to the Temple. Corypheus and his vanguard reach the Temple first where they confront the elven sentinels who still guard the temple. Corypheus deliberately walks into the Temple's magical wards, disabling them but destroying his physical form in the process. The Inquisitor's party arrives just in time to witness Corypheus' essence pass into nearby controlled Grey Warden Mage, instantly transforming the mage's body into Corypheus'. Samson/Calpernia enter the Temple just ahead of the Inquisitor. Upon spotting the Inquisitor, Morrigan and their companions, Corypheus summons his red lyrium dragon, but his foes are able to close the temple doors and magically seal them before the dragon can reach them. By the time Corypheus manages to barge his way into the temple, his foes have already used the Well of Sorrows, which is also the key to the resident eluvian. The Inquisitor and their party flee through the eluvian while Corypheus glides to attack them, but an unknown glowing female figure arises from the well, blocking his pursuit before fleeing through the eluvian herself. By the time he gets through, his foes flee through the eluvian, which shatters when Corypheus makes contact.

With his army devastated and his designs foiled, Corypheus returns to the Temple of Sacred Ashes and in one last attempt to crush his enemies, reopens the breach. Corypheus confronts the Inquisition soldiers stationed at the Temple ruins and proclaims that the Maker is a falsehood and he would be the new god. When the soldiers rebuff him, Corypheus unleashes a wave of Terror demons which massacre most of the squadron. The Inquisitor and their inner circle arrive with a platoon of Inquisition soldiers to confront Corypheus. Corypheus causes huge chunks of the ruins and surrounding mountainside to rise out of the ground into the breach, reshaping them into a miniature version of the Black City. The Inquisitor and three of their companions are left trapped and cut off from their allies. Corypheus moves to kill them with his Red Lyrium Dragon however as the Dragon attempts to attack, another dragon (either the Guardian of Mythal, if the Inquisitor drank from the Well, or a shapeshifted Morrigan, if she drank) tackles it out of the way. Enraged, Corypheus clashes with the Inquisitor in one final battle, unleashing his new red lyrium enhanced magic and summoning a pack of Shades to assist him.

Corypheus using the Orb during the final battle

In the midst of the clash, Corypheus' dragon manages to disable the Inquisitor's, just as Corypheus is wounded. Corypheus momentarily withdraws and unleashes the Dragon on the Inquisitor personally, only for the Red Lyrium Dragon to be slain soon after, disrupting Corypheus' ability to leap into other bodies. Rendered vulnerable, Corypheus resolves to see the world destroyed if he cannot rule it. But as the Inquisitor grows close to winning, Corypheus refuses to accept failure after all he has endured and tries calling out to the Old Gods, Dumat in particular, for aid, only for the Inquisitor to rip the orb from his grasp with the Anchor and seal the Breach with it. The Inquisitor then uses the Anchor to hurl Corypheus into the fade, causing him to disappear.

Strategy

See Dragon Age II strategy and Dragon Age: Inquisition strategy.

Quotes

• "Be this some dream I wake from? Am I in dwarven lands? Why seem their roads so empty?"
• "The light. We sought the golden light. You offered... the power of the gods themselves. But it was... black... corrupt. Darkness... ever since. How long?"
• "The City. It was supposed to be golden. It was supposed to be ours."
• "You are nothing! All you love will be ground under the Imperium's heel!"

See also

Codex entry: Corypheus

• Note: The Claws of Dumat

Notes

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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• Corypheus has the ability to take over and shape any body afflicted with the taint into his image if he is killed. This makes it almost impossible to kill Corypheus. According to Mark Darrah, however, Corypheus' bonded corrupted dragon was not the source of his ability to switch bodies with Blighted beings. It was, in fact, a weakness in the ability, as defeating the Red lyrium dragon disrupting this power.
• Prior to reaching the Wells of Sorrows, Corypheus knows nothing about any of the other six magisters who entered the Black City with him.

Trivia

• Defeating Corypheus earns the player the achievement "Conductor". Classical Greek κορυφαῖος (koryphaîos) means "conductor of the chorus".
• Corypheus is described as relentless, ambitious and beyond arrogant. He is arrogance personified, and believes he operates on a level no other being can comprehend.
• According to writer Patrick Weekes, he sees Leliana as the character having the most in common with Corypheus. Both are "burned believers." In fact, Weekes refers to Corypheus as Leliana's "dark mirror."
• 'Corypheus' is Greek for 'leader'. It may also mean 'conductor,' or literally 'head,' of a dramatic chorus or else a particular group.

Gallery

Corypheus in Dragon Age II

Corypheus in Heroes of Dragon Age

Corypheus tarot card