Eternal Champion

This article is about the Michael Moorcock character concept. For the book, see The Eternal Champion (novel). For the video game, see Eternal Champions.

The Eternal Champion is a fictional creation of the author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in many of his novels.

About the Eternal Champion

The fictional Moorcock Multiverse, consisting of several universes, many layered dimensions, spheres, and alternative worlds, is the place where the eternal struggle between Law and Chaos, the two main forces of Moorcock's worlds, takes place. In all these dimensions and worlds, these forces constantly war for supremacy. Since the victory of Law or Chaos would cause the Multiverse either to become permanently static or totally formless, the Cosmic Balance enforces certain limits which the powers of Law and Chaos violate at their peril. Law, Chaos, and the Balance are active, but seemingly non-sentient, forces which empower various champions and representatives.

The Eternal Champion, a Hero who exists in all dimensions, times and worlds, is the one who is chosen by fate to fight for the Cosmic Balance; however, he often does not know of his role, or, even worse, he struggles against it, never to succeed. Since his role is to intervene when either Law or Chaos have gained an excess of power, he is always doomed to be surrounded by strife and destruction, although he may go through long periods of relative quiet.

All the incarnations of the Eternal Champion are facets of each other, and the Champion may also be aided by a companion, who, like himself, exists in various incarnations. Likewise the Champion is often associated with a romantic interest that is possibly an aspect of an eternal figure. Other characters in the various books have occasionally crossed over from one universe to another, although it is unclear what their status in the multiverse may be. Normally, the incarnations of the Champion do not interact and are treated as serial incarnations for facets of a single consciousness, but various cataclysmic events (such as the end of a Cycle of Cycles of the multiverse's progression, or an invasion by hostile entities from an entirely separate multiverse) may bring them together in various ways. This is very dangerous (it causes strains on the fabric of the multiverse as well as mental issues for the Champion), but amplifies the Champion's power enormously.

In every aspect, the Champion is a warrior almost without peer: when he wields some version of his usual weapon, the Black Sword (known by various names such as Stormbringer or Kanajana, although not all versions of the Sword are the same and some are active entities in their own right) few can stand against him. He is also usually an adept, if often unwilling, leader of fighters and has strategic and tactical abilities.

Incarnations of the Eternal Champion

Incarnations of the Eternal Champion include:

Incarnations of the Companion to Champions

Some of the incarnations of the "Companion to Champions" include:

Incarnations of the Eternal Consort

Some of the incarnations of the "Eternal Consort" include:

J&C characters

There is also a very obvious repetition of characters whose first names begins with the letter "j", and whose last names begins with the letter "c" (Moorcock himself poked fun at this in the novel The Fortress of the Pearl). Some of these "J&C" characters seem to be companions, while others seem to be mentors, and still others are champions (and at least one was said to be the Spirit of the Runestaff, an instrument of the Cosmic Balance).

A summary of "J&C" characters created by Michael Moorcock:

The Eternal Champion Sequence

This is the sequence as published (in omnibus editions) by White Wolf Publishing from 1994 to 2000 (and now out of print). That was the last time they were published all together in a comprehensive collection, though there have been several stories (The Dreamthief's Daughter, The Skrayling Tree, and The White Wolf's Son, among them) added to the cycle since then, and some of the stories have been published in new editions (sometimes with changes), as well. In brackets are listed the incarnation(s) of the Eternal Champion featured in a given story.

Vol. 1: The Eternal Champion

Vol. 2: Von Bek

Vol. 3: Hawkmoon [all four stories with Dorian Hawkmoon]

Vol. 4: A Nomad of the Time Streams [all three stories with Oswald Bastable]

Vol. 5: Elric: The Song of the Black Sword [all six stories with Elric]

Vol. 6: The Roads Between the Worlds

Vol. 7: Corum: The Coming of Chaos [all three stories with Corum]

Vol. 8: Sailing to Utopia

Vol. 9: Kane of Old Mars [all three stories with Michael Kane]

Vol. 10: The Dancers at the End of Time [all three stories with Jherek Carnelian]

Vol. 11: Elric: The Stealer of Souls [all six stories with Elric]

Vol. 12: Corum: The Prince with the Silver Hand [all three stories with Corum]

Vol. 13: Legends from the End of Time (collection of novellas)

Vol. 14: Earl Aubec and Other Stories (a collection of 33 short stories, only the first of which features Earl Aubec) [Earl Aubec and others]

Vol. 15: Count Brass [all three stories with Dorian Hawkmoon; set after the "Swords" books]

Jerry Cornelius

Novels added to the cycle since 1994

The Second Ether sequence

The Dreamquest Trilogy [all three stories with Elric and Oona von Bek]

Doctor Who novel, featuring Captain Cornelius:

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Erekosë, Urlik, Clen, Flamadin and Daker are related incarnations of the Eternal Champion, in that the individual transforms over the course of several novels while maintaining the memories of each and is not biologically reborn between each aspect. He remembers the lives of numerous other incarnations, the third identity assumed by John Daker.
  2. ↑ Graf Ulrich von Bek and his descendants are a somewhat unusual family in Moorcock's works, as they function both as an aspect of his Eternal Champion and as a companion to him.
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