Leadership Archetypes in the Raven of Axelgard Trilogy

Leaders of the Raven of Axelgard Trilogy are shown: Raven, Thaddeus and Machenex. The faces of the ancient leaders that they are inspired by are in front of them, including Commodus, Vercintegetorix, and Hades.

There are many leaders from The Raven of Axelgard Trilogy, but the ones that truly deserve attention include the protagonist Raven, and two antagonists, Thaddeus and Machenex. Raven is the vampire king of Axelgard and Thaddeus is his creator and the ruler of the Underworld. Machenex on the other hand is the leader of the tribal vampire coven that resides in the caves of the Lost Woods. Machenex was a cruel and sadistic vampiric child of Thaddeus, and served as his henchmen. Each one of these leaders serves their own purpose, and is inspired by the historical figures Commodus, Hades, and Vercingetorix. These three leaders mirror three historical giants, and their stories reflect the timeless struggle for unity and power.

Taking a closer look, Raven is inspired by the Roman emperor Commodus, who was known for contributing to the decline of the Roman Empire. Thaddeus is inspired by Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld, who in fact was not exiled to the Underworld but chose to make it his domain. Lastly there is Machenex, who was inspired by Vercingetorix, who today is admired by the French as one of the original freedom fighters of their nation.

What Raven, Machenex, and Thaddeus and these historical figures have in common is their determination to unify and protect their people at all costs. In Royal Blood Raven jumps into ascension and becomes the king of Axelgard. Immediately afterwards he is thrust into battle, facing off with the Zenians with his armies at his back. 

Machenex seeks to destroy Raven with his tribal warrior coven army attacking in their leader’s wake. Thaddeus is Machenex’s commander and leader, and Thaddeus operates out of the Underworld where he lives. Thaddeus communicates to Machenex from the Underworld through a magical projection spell, and commands his minion to crush Raven.

Raven’s people deplored the continuous warfare at their doorstep due to Zenian destruction. Despite the feeling of despair Axelgardians endured, the vampire king reveled in the threat of war and enthusiastically engaged in warfare. Raven gained popularity amongst the people for his thirst for blood during the ongoing war effort. 

In contrast to Raven’s outright obsession and enthusiasm for war, Commodus did not engage in warfare and was not a war hero. Typically Ancient Roman culture rewarded those who demonstrated their strength on the battlefield, but the emperor actually gained respect and admiration from some as a peacekeeper who sought to steer the empire away from warfare.

Thaddeus is like the Greek god of the underworld Hades; they both are rulers of the Underworld and care for the dead. Another major similarity and perhaps one of the most significant is the River of Styx that flows through both the Greek underworld as well as in Tiberon’s underworld, the world where Thaddeus and Raven are from. Unlike in Greek mythology, people do not need to pay to cross the river in Tiberon, and people do not directly enter the Underworld from the land of the living. In Tiberon, people enter the Underworld by a boat traveling across the sea which falls off the edge of the world. Raven’s world is flat and it flows into the River of Styx in the Underworld. If anyone swims in the river they rapidly become old and only have a limited time to get out of the river before they die.

Like Vercingetorix, Machenex was a tribal leader who sought to bring stability and unify their people despite their differences and lack of focus. Machenex handpicked his tribal vampire coven members and controls and unifies them through blood, fear, and loot collected from their battles. Machenex kept humans captive in caves, which was home to he and his coven, in the Lost Woods. They were treated as slaves which the coven lived off of as a food source, drinking their blood to gain vital energy needed for war.

Back to Vercingetorix. The leader was from Gaul, the ancient country that is now identified as France. He was a tribal leader that sought to unify his people, who consisted of numerous rivaling tribes under one nation, Alesia. To this day Vercingetorix is a symbol of freedom and unity to the French people, and a statue of him was built by Emperor Napoleon III in 1865 at Alise-Sainte-Reine (site of Alesia).

Let’s highlight major similarities between Raven and Commodus. King Raven was once a human like Commodus, and shared many of his bad habits in his youth. The vampire as a human was unnecessarily extravagant, having squandered and drained the treasury of Axelgard. When he was about 20 years old Raven inherited the village Axelia to oversee and take care of. It was located in the southeast region of Axelgard. One day while Raven was on one of his expensive escapades, severely draining the treasury, he: mingled with harlots, gambled and smoked to his heart’s content. Meanwhile his enemies, the Zenians, came to Axelgard and sacked his village, tarnishing his reputation and altering the course of his fate forever. Because of Axelia's destruction, young Raven was forced into exile. Vulnerable and alone, that’s when he was attacked by Thaddeus, who turned him into a vampire against his will.

Commodus wielded great power in his youth as well as Raven, becoming co-emperor at age 16 and sole emperor at 19, and ruled from 177-192 CE. Commodus was also known, like Raven, for being rebellious and extravagant in his youth. His father was the renowned and respected Marcus Aurelius. Marcus trained him well, but that couldn’t change Commodus’s flawed character, which in the end was his downfall and ultimately led to his assasination. His reign was known for being unstable and luxurious. Everything that Commodus represented and did during his rule was in opposition to his father’s rule, who was known for being disciplined and philosophical.

Another difference between the Roman and the vampire is that after Raven agreed to put an end to the 100s of years long war against the Zenians. In contrast Commodus chose to not engage in military campaigns. After many battles and losses Raven finally did defeat the Zenians and came home a war hero. Commodus fought for his people in his own way, which at the time was considered unorthodox and degrading to the reputation of Roman royalty: he fought in the gladiatorial arena. Although he was looked down upon by some for battling in the colosseum, others admired him for it. They also enjoyed the emperor’s endorsing and hosting the games, and in some ways was supported by the people for this reason. 

Although he endorsed the games that Commodus and the people liked so much, they were a costly expense for Rome and it drained the treasury greatly, not unlike what Raven did when he went on his expensive escapades.

Each one of the leaders from the Raven of Axelgary Trilogy, Raven, Thaddeus, and Machenex, have many similarities to the historical leaders they were inspired by including Commodus, Hades, and Vercingetorix. The common ingredient amongst them all is the theme of war. Warfare is inevitable and so it is intertwined in the lives of them all, even Commodus who sought to avoid involvement in war, was affected by his having a lack of it during his reign. During ancient times and the middle ages soldiers were determined to fight for glory and receive laurels. These time periods were marked by uncertainty, bloodshed, and death. Being a strong military figure was needed for the job, and Raven earned his reputation as being the undisputed warrior vampire king of Axelgard.