Maia[a] is the co-antagonist of The Precursor Legacy, alongside her younger brother Gol Acheron. Both were corrupted by exposure to dark eco, Maia being a sorceress and her brother being a Sage. They operated out of their citadel, where they resided on the far north side of the continent.
Together, Maia and her brother planned to revive a custom Precursor robot in order to open dark eco silos across the earth and reshape the planet to their liking. To that end, Maia created a force of dark eco-mutated creatures known as the lurkers, to besiege human-inhabited villages and find, excavate, and steal Precursor technology and eco.
Throughout her southward crusade, she and her brother kidnapped the other eco Sages, forcing them to power their robot once it was complete. The disappearance of the Sages, and the lurkers' appearance around the southernmost Sandover Village, prompted green eco Sage Samos Hagai and his protégé Jak to journey north and confront the siblings, ultimately leading to the evil duo's defeat.
History[]
Before The Precursor Legacy[]
Prior to the events of The Precursor Legacy, Maia and Gol were normal, and resided in the underground northern village,[2] where the Yellow Sage's hut was also located. Maia the elder of the two,[3] they lived in a citadel constructed within a hollowed-out dark eco silo, which was also the site of a former Precursor city (sometimes referred to as simply "Precursor City").[4] While Gol studied and experimented with dark eco as a Sage, it is unknown to what extent Maia was exposed. However, Samos Hagai at some point warned her that the dark eco would affect them both.[5]
Eventually, the siblings cut off contact with the other Sages, and disappeared for years.[6] Both became corrupted by dark eco, twisting their minds, graying their skin, and yellowing their eyes. Maia became a fully fledged dark eco sorceress, using her newfound power to maintain a perpetual youthful appearance, hiding her true elderly age.[2] This is presumably when she also gained teleportation and flying powers.
The siblings eventually devised a plan to unleash vast amounts of dark eco upon the planet and reshape it to their liking. They discovered that they could open the dark eco silos all over the world using a custom Precursor robot from scavenged parts, though they would need to kidnap the other eco Sages to harness their power.[5] Maia thus created an army of lurkers[2] to take over the villages, capture the Sages, as well as find, excavate, and steal Precursor artifacts to help them on their quest.[6]
These lurkers were mutated versions of natural animals, and as Maia's army moved further south, the indigenous creatures of various locations would also become mutated. These mutated characteristics included yellow eyes, a pair of skin spurs on either side of the bottom lip, and hostile behavior.[b]
The Precursor Legacy[]
Maia and her brother were first introduced in the prologue of The Precursor Legacy, on Misty Island, when Jak and Daxter spotted them addressing a troop of babaks and bone armor lurkers. She commanded them to attack anyone who strayed from the nearby Sandover Village, and that they would attack it in due time, completing their crusade south.
When Daxter came to Samos in search of a solution to his transforming into an ottsel, the latter advised they travel north in search of Maia's brother, Gol. Unaware of Gol's corruption, Samos believed he was the only one who knew enough about dark eco to change Daxter back into a human.
The siblings did not appear again until much later in the game, after Jak, Daxter, Samos, and Keira had traveled as far north as Volcanic Crater, to the Red Sage's hut. There, the duo revealed their plans, and that they were behind the lurker attacks and kidnappings of the other Sages. This was the first time Samos saw their new corrupted appearance, and he admonished Maia for following her brother.
The siblings then vanished, leaving the group resolute to stop them. Daxter was distraught that they would have to fight the one chance he had at being transformed back into a human. They nonetheless did, eventually confronting Gol and Maia at their citadel after rescuing all of the kidnapped Sages (including Samos, who Gol and Maia had since kidnapped).[7] Gol stated they were too late, however, as the robot was ready. Maia claimed that the dark eco had given them "a beauty beyond anything [they] could understand", and to "just wait until we open the silos".[8]
Gol and Maia then entered their newly-powered robot, and began the process of opening a nearby dark eco silo. Jak and Daxter chased them there, ultimately defeating the robot with light eco. The robot then sank into the nearly-open silo's dark eco, taking the siblings with it and presumably killing them. However, Samos afterwards could only conclude that the dark eco "probably" destroyed Gol and Maia.[9]
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Maia is an elderly human with a tall, slender body and youthful appearance due to dark eco experimentation. Also attributable to dark eco is her gray-blue skin, yellow scleras, and red irises. She has patches of dark blue skin on either side of her face; it is unknown if this is a natural pigment difference, a result of dark eco, or a face tattoo (not dissimilar to the ones used by Krimzon Guard personnel). She has long, thick, yellow-gray hair, held back by a helmet of apparent Precursor origin. The helmet closely resembles the insectoid appearance of many Precursor statues and sculptures, with large green "eyes" and a spherical head made of Precursor metal.
She wears a low-cut, midriff-length corset also made of Precursor metal, as well as Precursor metal hip guards, thigh guards, knee pads, and knee-high, high-heel platform boots. The armor was created by Gol[3] out of Precursor metal to contain the dark eco in her body.[2] She otherwise wears a red collar necklace, red elbow-length gloves, and brown pants held up by a large red belt.
Personality[]
Maia leans a bit more sadistic and sardonic than her brother, and appears to be the more calculating one. She noted that the Red Sage "gave up with so little effort", and that it was "no fun at all", sarcastically mentioning that the Sages had "graciously agreed" to help them.[5] Maia does, however, have an affectionate relationship with her brother, following him over the brink of insanity, and Gol referring to her as "dear sister".[5] Maia is rather vain, using dark eco to maintain a perpetually youthful appearance,[2] believing that it gave her a beauty beyond comprehension.[8]
Notably, however, Samos warned Maia alone not to tamper with dark eco, suggesting she was originally reluctant to follow her brother. Whether or not her reservations were due to ethics or out of practicality, she ultimately disregarded Samos' advice. She became a sorceress, evidently achieving power even beyond her brother's.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
Maia was originally designed by concept artist Charles Zembillas as the "Evil Sister",[10] which would long continue to be her code name in development[11][12] and even promotion.[13][14] Designed to be "as evil as she was beautiful",[10] she was eventually named "Maya",[15] after Autodesk Maya,[16] the 3D modeling software used by Naughty Dog, before ultimately settling on Maia.
An unused cutscene from the game, originally placed after Jak's visit to Misty Island, shows Maia and Gol concerned that Jak and Daxter could "prove to be trouble", so Maia decided to unleash Klaww to intercept their progress north. Maia's control over Klaww seems to further confirm that she originally created the lurker army.[17]
Notes[]
- Annotations
- Citations
- ↑ The Precursor Legacy, credits
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Naughty Dog & Limited Run Games [2000] 2019, Chapter 2: "Arch Villains" § "Evil Sister"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Naughty Dog & Limited Run Games [2000] 2019, Chapter 2: "Arch Villains" § "Evil Brother"
- ↑ The Precursor Legacy script § "Keira (gameplay) 12"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The Precursor Legacy script § "Red Sage's hut"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Precursor Legacy script § "Prologue"
- ↑ The Precursor Legacy script § "Gol and Maia's citadel"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Precursor Legacy script § "Samos Hagai 5"
- ↑ The Precursor Legacy script § "Epilogue"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Zembillas 2002, set 13, page 221
- ↑ Naughty Dog & Limited Run Games [2000] 2019, Chapter 8: "Plot/Story" § "Story Synopsis"
- ↑ The Precursor Legacy, file:
INT/evilsis-ag.go
- ↑ The Making of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy DVD, "Art Gallery", "Character Descriptions" § "Evil Sister" (15:03)
- ↑ Naughty Dog 2001,
TEXT/J&D - SL.RTF
- ↑ Naughty Dog & Limited Run Games [2000] 2019, Chapter 8: "Plot/Story" § "Story Synopsis" (3/1/01 revision)
- ↑ Dark Horse Comics & Naughty Dog 2014, p. 57
- ↑ The Precursor Legacy, cutscene
evilbro-misty-end
with audio fromVAGDIR.AYB
References[]
- Naughty Dog (2000; 2019). Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy Design Bible — Original Production Binder [Book]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Limited Run Games.
- Naughty Dog (2001). "Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy Monthly Artwork Disc". sony. Compact Disc.
- Naughty Dog (2001). Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Naughty Dog (2001). The Making of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. sony. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020.
- Zembillas, Charles (2002). 603: Character Development by Charles Zembillas. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020.
- Naughty Dog (2014). The Art of Naughty Dog. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1-62115-931-5.