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Kozilek

Magic: The Gathering Zendikar

Kozilek (/koʊzɪlɛk/; KOH-zih-lek), the "Butcher of Truth", is one of the three Eldrazi titans and the inspiration for the Zendikari merfolk god Cosi and the Kor god Talib.

Kozilek (/koʊzɪlɛk/; KOH-zih-lek), the "Butcher of Truth", is one of the three Eldrazi titans and the inspiration for the Zendikari merfolk god Cosi and the Kor god Talib.

Description

Kozilek's planar avatar is a titan of apparently humanoid anatomy, but with a mass of tentacles in place of legs, and a complex orifice in place of his head. His body is covered in eyes and chitin, and an arrangement of dark plates floats above his shoulders and extends from his elbows. They are often described as being or creating dark "holes" in reality. He stands between Ulamog and Emrakul in size.

Kozilek is the Titan of Distortion, a reality-slicing nightmare of relentless insanity. He changes the perception of reality, making it impossible to discern the truth. He twists loyalties, muddies thoughts, transforms emotions, and induces despair and panic. Kozilek represents themes of deception, puzzles, lies, mental domination, transformation, and experimentation. Sages call Kozilek the confusion of panic, the trap of enigmas, and the harrower of thought.

Lineage

The Eldrazi of the Kozilek brood lineage possess many eyes growing near joints or along body ridges, jagged plates or blades of lustrous black mineral jutting from or floating around their bodies, and animalistic or insectoid anatomies covered in tough carapaces. Kozilek's drones can absorb life just by their presence but prefer to rend flesh with their onyx-like projections.

History

Imprisonment of the Eldrazi

After they discovered the threat of the Eldrazi 40 years prior, Ugin, Nahiri and Sorin Markov prepared thoroughly to trap them on Nahiri's home plane of Zendikar. They devised a plan to trap the Eldrazi by creating a complex network of leylines, hedrons and nodes of mana. Nahiri was the one to build this intricate structure. She worked relentlessly, pulling and shaping hedrons from the living stone of Zendikar, while Ugin inscribed them with draconic runes to hold them in place. These hedrons, scattered across Zendikar, acted as both a lure and a trap, drawing the Eldrazi with their pulsing magical energy.

As the Eldrazi slowly approached Zendikar in -1400 AR, Nahiri warned the inhabitants of her plane — merfolk, kor, humans, elves, and even the surrakar — of the impending threat. The angels patrolled the skies, ever watchful. When the Titans arrived, it was a sight beyond comprehension. Ulamog, Kozilek, and the towering Emrakul descended upon Zendikar, their monstrous forms dwarfing everything in their path.

Ugin, Sorin, and Nahiri fought valiantly. Ugin unleashed his ghostfire, Sorin drained the Eldrazi's strength, and Zendikar's people battled the Titans' spawn, while the Eldrazi moved toward the heart of the trap — the Eye of Ugin. In a final act of power, the three Planeswalkers converged at the Eye, combining their magic to activate the hedron network. Every hedron on Zendikar shifted into place, sealing the Titans in a prison of mana and stone. The earth itself began to swallow the Eldrazi, encasing them and leaving them petrified, slowly sinking into the mountains themselves as Zendikar, though scarred, stood victorious. As the three Planeswalkers locked the chamber with a spell only three planeswalkers together could break, they knew that Zendikar would heal, and its people would adapt to life in the shadows of the hedrons.

The Eldrazi Released

After the release of the titans Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek by Nissa Revane, Kozilek's brood was said to have retreated to remote corners of the world, and it was generally believed that he left the plane of Zendikar. However, this assumption appears to have been incorrect. Immediately after Ob Nixilis reignited his spark by draining the hedron network that imprisoned Ulamog, Kozilek emerged from deep underground nearby. At that time, he had gained some perfect black shards floating above his head that seem to draw in light itself, sometimes described as holes in space.

After heavy initial losses in the Battle for Zendikar, the Gatewatch performed an orchestrated attack on Ulamog and Kozilek, binding them again in a web of leylines and burning them. This was the end of the material manifestation of Kozilek on Zendikar.

Colorless symbol

In Oath of the Gatewatch cards relating to Kozilek feature mana costs with the colorless symbol {C}.

Gallery

Story appearances

In-game references

External links

References

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