The Dark Crystal

This article is probably off-topic, but tolerated because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it.

The Dark Crystal is a fantasy film directed by Frank Oz and Jim Henson that probably traumatized a bunch of internet critics when they were kids, it’s also one of the many fantasy films being produced during the 70s, and most likely one of the most originals. The entire film doesn’t contain a single human, as every character are portrayed by puppets. Eventually, the movie spawned a plethora of comics and books, but also boosted the career of Brian Froud, fantasy artist who specializes in pictures of trolls and elves. The folkloric kind.

If you’ve heard of this movie, it’s probably because of its extremely alien and original universe, from which the film and the series only show a fraction. The world of Thra is filled to the grim with creatures that either are so alien you can’t even describe them or so dangerous that Gygax might consider them too gross to even use in his campaigns. It’s also a world of beauty and magic, where every living thing is connected to one another, thanks to the titular crystal. It’s also being abused by a clique of elitist schmucks from which /pol/ has drawn many unfortunate comparisons.

As niche as the Dark Crystal is, it inspired a multitude of artists and DnD campaigns, as well as monsters, trying to reproduce the fairy-like enchanting vibe of the movie. In fact, the whole franchise inspired the Feywild plane.

A lot of people have criticized the movie for being creepy or scary, either because of the sadistic Skeksis and their schemes, or because of the sometimes weird off-putting appearance of the Gelflings, which for some people fall right in the uncanny valley. Most of them ignored that it was Jim Henson’s intention to make the movie scary, as children should be exposed to fear at some point. As for the uncanny valley stuff… Let’s just say the prequel series fix this issue.

The Universe

Dark Crystal is set on Thra, a planet in a galaxy far, far away from ours.

Races

The UrSkeks : The race that came to Thra a long time ago. Not much is known about them besides the fact that they are not of Thra and that their kin rejected them. Most likely, they were seeking refuge. They are curious creatures, although sometimes too curious for their own good. All the wisdom in the world didn’t stop them from touching the Crystal and end up dividing them into…

The Skeksis : The mean-spirited, BBEG of the Dark Crystal series. Although not as corrupted as they would become at first, the Skeksis are extremely methodological and always have plans in motion. They act and interact with Thra in ways that would completely change the land. Smart and cunning, they would eventually seduce the Gelflings with their words and make them their slaves, and salvage meaningless wars and quench their bloodlust. Why? Because they fucking can.

With time, their corruption and materialistic vision of the world would lead them to seek immortality, thus ending up in them sucking the power of the Crystal away and using it for themselves. While they would live longer and enjoy a few more years of hedonistic pleasures, the Skeksis would degrade and rot.

They are the main reason why you remember the Dark Crystal. Creepy stalking scheming birds of pride who hate everyone and everything who tries to stop their plans. Each Skeksis has a unique personality and role in their community, and all of them are batshit insane. They all have names starting with “Skek”, and each of them are responsible for at least one grave event in the history of Thra. Unlike their half-brothers...

The UrRu/Mystics : Slow, quiet and peaceful creatures that are the polar opposite of the Skeksis. They live isolated from the rest of the world and practice shamanism everyday. They live simple lives and follow their rituals in such manners that they’d make a Buddhist jealous. You would assume they’d fight the Skeksis on a daily basis because of their direct opposition to materialism and wrong-doing, but no. The Skeksis are always on the move, they make change, they adapt themselves to new situations and actually do something, the UrRu do not intervene and never attempt to change the world.

Needless to say, they don’t do a whole lot in the franchise. However, some of them are more rebellious, and actually try to do something and prevent Thra from being completely corrupted. The Archer and the Wonderer being two examples of that. Unfortunately, because of their reclusive habits, they are perceived as stuff of legends by the Gelflings.

As for the inhabitants of Thra…

The Gelflings : The protagonists of the series. Curious little elves who make one with nature, they are capable of “dreamfasting” with one another, which allows them to share visions or memories. They are also incapable of lying. While there are some small differences between the two sexes, the most notable is that female Gelflings have wings.

Unfortunately, despite all of this, Gelflings are also extremely naive. They were gullible enough to believe the Skeksis and hand them over the Crystal without asking questions, they’ve let themselves being thrown into wars against former allies and committing genocides in the name of their masters, using the protection of the Crystal as an excuse to purge races which didn’t obey their will.

Before the rise of the Skeksis, they were united and pretty much all looked the same, passing their days naked praying with Augrah. That all changed when the Skeksis started to mess with the crystal too much and usurp the leadership of the Gelflings. To achieve this, they used the usual divide and conquer tactic. The Gelflings were seperated in seven clans (or so it seems), which drastically changed their appearance and behavior accordingly.

The Firelings : Gelflings with fiery hair who can throw fireballs. They live by the center of the earth and are much taller than your average run-of-the-mill gelfling. So much so that their eldest members are likely as tall as giraffes. One of them was supposed to be the protagonist of the scrapped Dark Crystal sequel, but since the first movie wasn't much of a success, all we got was a short comic book series.

Their civilization thrived thanks to the power generated by the crystal, which heats their world. Understand that when it becomes corrupted, all it does is slowly killing their kind with a fleeting flame, slowly turning their fiery homeworld into a cold mausoleum.

Characters

SkekSo : The EMPURAAAAAH of the Skeksis. This guy could eat warpstones for breakfast. He is the head of state and the very reason why the Crystal became corrupted. He is the most prideful, hateful, maniacal and deranged member of his species. How so? He started the Darkening. The slow processus that which dries up Thra from its power and magic.

SkekSil:

The Chamberlain of the Skeksis EMPURAAAAAH. Most likely Tzeentch in disguise. The schemiest bastard of the bunch. And you know him well.

He craves power like the next guy who wants to usurp a throne and claim it for himself, but contrary to many others who go for the kill and claim the crown, SkekSil is simply buying his time. And while in the long run, it didn't work out pretty well for him, It is undeniable that, in the end, he had a long successful career as SkekSo's main councellor. Being the right hand of the Emperor doesn't bother him at all, if anything it helps him. Every Skeksis has a teeth against SkekSil, but his position grants him some sort of prestige among them. Although that prestige is oftentimes short lived.

He doesn't really make decisions, mind you, but he gives the people who make decisions ideas. He's the one who told SkekTek to work on a machine that could collect essence, the latter of which will serve as SkekSo's rejuvinating gelfling juice. He was the first one to bargain with the Gelflings regarding the futility of the Resistance when the rest of the Skeksis were panicking. He was the first one to suggest to decridibilize Rian in front of his peers by using the Gelflings' stellar gullibility, he was the first one to call on SkekMal to chase after Rian, who none of the Skeksis even DARED to call by his name. If anything, he whispers to the ears of his allies AND enemies what to do. He doesn't play 4D Chess, but he can tell almost nine times out of ten what will the next moves of BOTH players.

SkekSil sure love to look like an ally to you, he'll do everything in his power to earn your trust. Just make sure that in the past, you didn't do him dirty, because you're gonna regret it really fast.

/tv/ LOVES SkekSil, so much so that he is sometimes seen as the mascot for the /AoR/ threads. His signature whimpering became a catchphrase among many fans. He might aswell be the figurehead of the Dark Crystal franchise.

Augrah:

You know how every elf civilization in fantasy that's somehow tied to nature and the likes have a goddess or a god that represent their world, nature, the trees or whatever kind of sacred piece of land they hallow? Well Augrah is that, she's just not a god, but she's directly tied to Thra.

Augrah is what you get when a angry granny gets to become a goddess. She's tied to Thra, she speaks the language of Thra, she's tied to the Crystal, and you better believe she's gonna stick to her role as a guardian of Thra. She never takes any shit from anybody, and is capable of lecturing people on a whole lot of thing on top of giving a good lesson of humility, so much so she could probably give Archaon a good scare.

The Skeksis, being aware of that, gave her an observatory so that she could observe the stars for HUNDREDS OF YEARS, just so that she could shut up.

Jen and Kira:

Jen is the main protagonist of the original movie. You can also call him Gelfling Jesus. Jen is a caring, loving and a "bordering-the-strange-valley"-ing character. He couldn't hurt a fly, and matter of fact, he never harmed anyone. Ever. Not even the genocidal maniacs who killed his parents. Jen, taking the Gelfling tradition of being naive as all hell, is absolutely clueless about Thra, learning most of what he knows from his Master, UrSu, the Mystic counterpart of SkekSo. Unfortunately, he forgot to tell him about the Crystal, the one thing he tells him to restore before he agonizes.

Jen is essentially the one character that guides the audience in the world of Thra, or rather, discovers the world with them. He isn't clueless because he's naive, but because narratively speaking, having a know-it-all character serving as your main guide in a completely alien world isn't the best thing to have. Imagine if Frodo was capable of lore-dumping on any character present in the Lord of the Rings.

Kira, on the other hand, is a crafty Gelfling girl who's friends with all the animals. Although she is incredibly frail and quite sensitive, she's more fit for adventuring and questing than his male counterpart.

The Movie

In all fairness, the movie itself isn’t particularly remarkable plotwise, but holy shit is it a labor of love.

With all of that aside, the plot ain’t really brilliant, you can see the adventures of two pacifist gelflings who are clueless about their own world and don’t know what to do with the Crystal, not even knowing what it does. The Podlings act like a certain race of space-teddy-bears, the Mystics aren’t very present, Augrah acts like Augrah, and the plot doesn’t explain a whole lot of things. Maybe for the better because it gives the film a very mysterious and eerie atmosphere, your imagination fills the gaps between the holes left by the film. But if you’re not very imaginative, then it’s probably gonna be a bore for you.

However the film has one advantage that proves who’s the one carrying the entire franchise on their shoulders; The Skeksis, they are particularly delightfully despicable. Although a lot of them are absent or gone missing, the remaining eight are all you need to be frightened and amused by their shenanigans.