Dahak Crisis

The Dahak Crisis refers to the attempts by the demon Dahak to enter the Earth and destroy the pantheons of gods through various means across the known world.

Origins[]

Since the dawn of time, Dahak, as a Force of Darkness and Destruction, fought against the Force of Light and Creation.^[1]

First Crisis[]

Dahak's first attempt to enter the Earth came during the time of the Titans. The Titans managed to fight back against the forces of Dahak, but his war against them led to their weakness in the Great War of the Gods.^[1]

One of the chief priests fighting against Dahak was Zarathustra, who was cursed with immortality at some point before Dahak was defeated.^[1]

A New Hope[]

Almost a thousand years later^[1], Dahak's followers organized temples in Brittania and Gaul, as well as were led by Krafstar. Krafstar, confused with an Israelite, is aided by Xena and Gabrielle on his return from slavery to Brittania, where he uses Gabrielle's blood innocence to kill the priestess Meridian and cause a sufficient amount of destruction to create the Goddess of Dahak - Hope.^[2]

Hope is born through Gabrielle, but later abandoned after the murder of several Warriors of the Pierced Heart, supposedly killed by Gabrielle.^[3]

As a disciple of Dahak, Hope intended to father the six destroyers who would lay waste to mankind and destroy the gods.^[4] Before she came of age, however, she attempted to set off a rift between Xena and Gabrielle, accomplished by killing Solan^[5] and briefly used time travel to kill Hercules^[6]. Both plans utilized Callisto and both ultimately failed, due to Xena and Gabrielle's reconciliation in Illusia^[7] and Hercules being saved by Iolaus^[8].

The Greek war god Ares, who was incidentally involved in both plans on the side of the heroes, was later recruited by Hope in her plans to create the destroyers. He helped ensure her rebirth in a mature form and impregnated her with the first of the six destroyers^[4]. He also prevented her death due to Gabrielle's attempted sacrifice^[9].

Hope's plan to bring about the destroyers ultimately failed with her death and the death of her son at the hands of Xena^[10].

Another Way[]

Before and during the time of Hope's battles with Xena, Dahak also gathered followers in the faraway nation of Sumeria, including its King, Gilgamesh. As a follower of Dahak, Gilgamesh also sought the destruction of his own gods, a destruction he finally managed with the help of Hercules in destroying the Chalice of the Gods. He later attempted to kill his sister Nebula, using her 'warrior heart' so that she may be possessed directly by Dahak, but was prevented by a sacrifice from Iolaus^[11].

While Hercules left Sumeria for faraway shores, Dahak possessed the body of Iolaus and maintained a consistent campaign to successfully drive newly-crowned Queen Nebula insane^[12]. At the same time, he somehow made trips into the Norseland, convincing Loki to aide him in destroying that land and its gods via Ragnarok. However, he was thwarted by a timely arrival by Hercules, who used the Norn to unde all of Dahak's misdeeds in the Norseland^[13].

In retaliation, Dahak managed to kill the Druids, gaining more power for himself, as well as once again fought with Hercules and Nebula, as well as Morrigan, in Sumeria^[12]. He left the three in Sumeria and teleported himself to Greece, where his very presence and increased powers caused the Greek gods, except one-time ally Ares, to flee. In Greece, he expanded his Cult, claimed to be the "God of Light" and spread lies about Hercules and why the gods had disappeared.^[1]

He was ultimately opposed by Hercules, Jason, Nebula, Morrigan, his old priest Zarathustra, as well as Ares, who utilized a totem of the God of Light, the Stone of Creation, to trap Dahak and perform an exorcism to remove him from Iolaus' body and thus the Earth^[1]

During the exorcism, Zarathustra was killed and Hercules ultimately ended up in another realm, where he fought a physical manifestation of Dahak and managed to finish the ritual. With Dahak's removal from Iolaus' body, balanced was restored and Dahak was again banished from the Earth^[14]

Aftermath[]

The Greek gods, who had left the realm in fear of Dahak, would later be rescued by Hercules when they were trapped in the Strange Reality^[15].

The weakening of the Greek gods following the Dahak Crisis may have led to their ultimate deaths during the Twilight of the Gods.^[16]

Other events[]

At some unknown point, Xena fought Despair, the Champion of Dahak, who attempted to gain access to the Talisman of Fate and thus control all of destiny for his master. He was thwarted by the Fates, who declared a contest would be held for possession of the Talisman^[17].

Appearences and mentions[]

The Dahak Crisis was a storyline that spanned both main shows and two production seasons. The following episodes featured Dahak, Hope, or someone acting in their interests: