Prince Apophas

swiggity swooty i'm coming for that soul!

Prince Apophas (also known as the Cursed Scarab Lord) is a Tomb King special character introduced in 8th edition of Warhammer Fantasy. Like many an unfortunate opportunist in Warhammer, he is an example of as to why betrayal and backstabbing to climb up the ranks will always be a bad idea. A desert wraith composed of a skull and a fuck-off massive swarm of beetles, he desperately searches for a soul equal to his so that he can pass on.

History

In life, he was a jealous prince in the city of Numas, and he desperately wanted the throne. He was so desperate that one night, he slit the throats of HIS ENTIRE FAMILY while they slept and proclaimed himself king the following morning. But this wasn't the beginning of a glorious new era for Apophas. Far from it. You see, regicide is generally considered to be the worst possible crime in Nehekharan culture - and he didn't have the preplanning, power or fear factor to get away with it like Nagash did. So because Apophas had effectively committed this crime several times over and got caught, a much worse fate was in store for him.

He was buried alive in a coffin full of flesh-eating beetles ala that one scene in The Mummy, and when they opened up the sarcophagus, all that was left was a skull picked clean of flesh. Before his bones were thrown into the desert to be eaten by the vultures, they inscribed a magical hieroglyph onto his skull, which tied his soul to the skull and cursed it forever. Upon entering the underworld, Usirian, the Nehekharan God of the Dead, was due to torment him for all eternity for his crime. But thankfully for Apophas, because he was of noble birth, he was able to bargain with the god. In return for not being tortured, Apophas would scour the earth for a soul equal to his that would take his place. Usirian agreed, and Apophas became the Cursed Scarab Lord.

When returning to the world, Apophas' form is a self-replenishing swarm of beetles with his skull on top of them, a desert revenant rather than a reanimated corpse. Wielding the same blade he slew his family with, that still drips with their blood, Apophas sought to slay the perfect soul with this weapon, hoping to earn his freedom. While a ferocious force on the field of battle, his goal always remains paramount. Once Apophas slew a prospective target, he'd bind their spirit in a mystical soul-cage before returning to the depths of the Underworld. Here the soul is placed on a pair of scales and compared with Apophas' own cursed spirit. So far, he has never found a match.

Little did Apophas know this was a doomed endeavor. No two souls ever have equal value. Therefore, he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity hunting souls for Usirian and doesn't even know it.

The End Times

After Nagash invaded Nehekhara, Apophas was chilling in an unknown tomb. While there, he was tracked down by a Skaven spy who had stolen a powerful Nehekharan blade - the Destroyer of Eternities. The sword was given to Apophas, and he was encouraged to destroy Nagash with it. Apophas took the blade and "thanked" the Skaven by activating all the tomb's traps on the Skaven and left.

Thus armed, he joined a Settra-led coalition to bring Nagash down. Why he thought a soul-destroying weapon would be the best thing to use on Nagash when the goal was capturing his soul is anyone's guess. Unfortunately, they lost. As Nagash consumed Usirian, the Scarab Lord became former's slave instead, after which he completely disappeared from the narrative.

The closest we get to a resolution to his story came from Josh Reynolds. His idea was that Nagash used him for soul-hunting, with his last known target being Ikit Claw for destroying the Black Pyramid. Apophas tracked him to Skavenblight and killed many Skaven, but Ikit sealed Apophas in a building before blasting it into the realm of Chaos, and he hasn't been heard from since.

Trivia

• His name is likely a corruption of Apophis, the giant evil snake who's the god of evil in Egyptian mythology.
• GW said in an interview the idea being Apophas' story was to show what happened to regicides in Nehekhara who failed to get away with it, unlike Nagash.
• Occasionally he has to deal with Stargate Command foiling his plans.
• Apophas was considered as a possible Tomb King Legendary Lord for Total War: Warhammer II DLC, but was dropped due to the fact that animating him would cause an immeasurable pain in the ass, as well as cost too much money.