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This article is about the dimension, the Abyss.
You may be looking for Pandora Hearts Chapter 93 "Abyss".

The Abyss (アヴィス, Avisu) is the most important element of Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. It is central to the narrative of the series, embodying the very universe that it operates on and acting as the origin for everything and everyone within. It is the core of all the conflict that unfolds around it, the catalyst for all events in the story, and the purpose upon which all is built.

It manifests as a dimension parallel to the material world where the story takes place. All Chains are born from the Abyss, as is the dark and twisted power that they are created out of, thus it is the subject of research by the government organization Pandora. And, intrinsically tied to the Abyss as they are, the Baskervilles source all their power from the Abyss, serving as its "Messengers" as part of their dark duties. Due to this, the Abyss is where Oz Vessalius is cast into during his Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

For the majority of the story the Abyss is shrouded in mystery, only able to be seen as endless darkness. For Oz, Alice, and Gilbert, their journey becomes to understand the true nature of the Abyss.

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Landscape[]

The Abyss is known to the public only in the vaguest sense, as a children's fairytale or an urban legend, often used by parents to scare misbehaving children into obedience. Rumors go that the Abyss is a prison for those who have committed deadly sins, the sinner in question to be visited by the "Messengers of the Abyss" and whisked away for their crimes. For the most part it is brushed off as mere fiction by the majority of society.[1]

Abyss1

Landscape of the Abyss

In truth, the Abyss very much exists.[2] It is a dimension parallel to that of the material world in which humanity resides,[3] the two worlds only occasionally intertwining. The dimension of the Abyss appears like "a broken toy box"[4]; filled with seemingly random objects and trinkets, all of which are broken and rotting. When Oz Vessalius is dropped into the Abyss during his Coming-of-Age Ceremony, the landscape he encounters is strange and unnerving in equal measure. There are children's toys, stuffed dolls and rocking horses and jacks-in-the-box, just as much as there are half-broken buildings and dilapidated furniture. All of it is set on the same background of an endlessly wide pool of perfectly still water shrouded in darkness. The Abyss appears as the ill-fitting combination of a child's collection of toys, and the remnants of a society long since destroyed.[3]

Most significantly the Abyss is the birthplace of all Chains, organisms who populate its depths and possess otherworldly powers. Chains will be born within the darkness of the Abyss, then attempt to gain enough power to emerge into the material world via the Paths that open up between the dimensions. All Chains search for humans to act as their Contractor in order to stabilize their existences, which are tenuous and unstable. It is for this reason, Chains entering the material world from the Abyss to Contract with humans, that the Abyss is the subject of research for the government organization Pandora.[4] And for this same reason, Pandora's enemies the Baskerville Clan are tied intrinsically to the Abyss, the entire group operating on its warped power.[2]

The nature of the Abyss as it is seen for the majority of the story is chaotic and unfathomable. Time is out of order, in which a person entering may find decades have passed by the time they exit,[5] and space seems to warp at random, gravity at times being nonexistent within the dimension.[3] The reason for this seems to be that the Abyss is currently "malfunctioning," which is causing its power and the Chains within it to encroach upon the material world. And this malfunction seems to stem from the Intention of the Abyss, the being who supposedly commands over the entire Abyss. And it is because of the Intention that the Abyss's twisted power is beginning to spin out of control.[4]

It is revealed in the words of an ancient prophecy that Oz Vessalius is the key to obtaining the Intention of the Abyss. His very existence seems to grant him the ability to interact with the Intention in ways no other being can, allowing him not only the means of stopping the "malfunctioning" of the Abyss but also control of the entire Abyss itself.[4] The Intention of the Abyss is the primary goal of both Pandora and the Baskervilles.[6] And, being the "key" to obtaining it, Oz finds himself at the center of this conflict over the rule of the Abyss.

Chains[]

Chains image 2

Chains born in the Abyss

Chains (チェイン, Chein) are a species of organisms born from the Abyss and its twisted, warped power, each possessing a range of otherworldly powers and abilities far beyond that of regular humans. Chains can appear as a variety of different things, such as animals or toys—a select number even having formerly been human—but are noticeably distinct from the mundane in the Abyssal power they radiate. Occasionally some Chains will display an amount of sentience, though this varies between individual Chains.

Chains' existences are unstable and tenuous when they leave their home dimension of the Abyss and enter the material world. To stabilize their existences, they search for humans to become their Contractors and serve as a conduit for their powers. In exchange for this, Chains will often offer their potential Contractors the ability to change the past. Humans in desperate and hopeless enough situations will take this offer, and feed to their Contracted Chains other humans to build up power. Eventually when enough power is gained, the Contractor's Incuse will open up a Path to the deepest depths of the Abyss and pull the Contractor in. This process more often than not either kills the Contractor or drives them to complete madness. These people are called "Illegal Contractors."

An exception exists in those dubbed "Legal Contractors"—those who are employed by the government organization Pandora, which is dedicated to researching the Abyss. Legal Contractors instead make use of an item called the Carcere to bypass the Incuse, meaning they are not at risk of being dragged into the Abyss or driven completely mad by their Chain. Legal Contractors, rather than aspiring to change the past, use their Contracted Chains as living weapons and instruments of battle in their duties as members of Pandora.

Ultimately all Chains exist to serve, protect, and please the Intention of the Abyss—the being who supposedly controls the entirety of the Abyss.

Contractors[]

Contractors ( (けい) (やく) (しゃ) , Keiyakusha) are humans who have formed Contracts with Chains, a species of creatures born from the Abyss. Chains possess otherworldly powers and abilities far beyond any regular human's capabilities, and Contracting with them grants people access to those powers. In exchange, Chains whose existences become unstable and tenuous in the material world get to have their existences stabilized when Contracted to a human. A majority of the significant characters are Contractors of some kind, with their respective Chains being significant in their own right.

There exist three types of Contractors: Illegal; Legal; and though they are never given their own proper name, the Baskerville Clan have access to a special kind of Contract distinct from the previous categories. And, on very rare occasion, it is possible for a single person to harbor multiple Contracts at once.

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Illegal Contractors ( () (ほう) (けい) (やく) (しゃ) , Ihō Keiyakusha) are the most common type of Contractor to be found. They are formed when Chains approach humans in desperate and hopeless situations, and offer them the opportunity to change the past. The Contractor will be granted the powers of their Chain, and the Chain's existence is stabilized to allow them to stay in the material world. All Illegal Contractors bear an Incuse ( (こく) (いん) , Kokuin) on their chests bearing a hand like an analog clock. Over time and usage of the Chain's powers, the hand will advance, and once a full revolution is made, the Contractor is dragged into the depths of the Abyss. While it is possible to disrupt the Incuse's movement by breaking the Contract early on enough, for the most part Illegal Contractors live on limited time.

Legal Contractors ( (せい) () (けい) (やく) (しゃ) , Seiki no Keiyakusha) are found exclusively within the ranks of Pandora, a government organization run by the Four Great Dukedoms that researches the Abyss. They incepted Legal Contractors with their inventing the Carcere (封血鏡 (カルケル) , Karukeru), a small mirror worn as a necklace pendant which takes on the Incuse in place of the Contractor's body. This allows Legal Contractors to bypass being dragged into the Abyss. Thus Legal Contractors will use their Chains as weapons and tools in their duties to Pandora. However, Legal Contracts are inherently very limited. Legal Contractors cannot exercise as much of their Chain's power, and they are maintained through the Doors to the Abyss possessed by the Four Great Dukedoms. Possessing a Key to the Door grants complete control over the Contracts facilitated through the corresponding Door, able to nullify, suppress, or restore Contracts at will.

Though Legal Contractors and Illegal Contractors make up the vast majority of the Contractors seen throughout the story, the terms "Legal" and "Illegal" are purposefully misleading. Before the harmony of the Abyss was disrupted, Contracts with Chains were privileged only to the Baskervilles, the Messengers of the Abyss who existed to maintain the order of the Abyss. Outsiders who attempted to Contract a Chain would have to bear an Incuse with a hand that ticked down until their untimely demise, their condemnation for transgressing on the Abyss. Baskervilles with Contracts bear Incuses with no hands and will not be dragged into the Abyss for their properly formed Contracts. As such, Contracts created between Baskervilles and Chains are the only truly "legitimate" Contracts, and Pandora's Legal Contracts can be considered blasphemous for encroaching on the Abyss in such a way with no punishment.

Though it is extremely rare due to the inherent risks, consequences, and limitations present in all Contracts, there are some cases in which one person has harbored multiple Contracts with multiple Chains. The first case is Xerxes Break, who had lived a previous life as an Illegal Contractor, but managed to survive the full revolution of the Incuse and escape the Abyss, whereupon he took a new life and formed a Legal Contract under Pandora. The second case is Vincent Nightray, who not only possesses a Legal Contract under Pandora, but as a fully fledged Baskerville since childhood also harbors a proper and legitimate Contract that bears him with a handless Incuse. Thus he calls himself a Double Contractor ( () (じゅう) (けい) (やく) (しゃ) , Nijū Keiyakusha). Finally, most significantly, Glen Baskerville is by design of the deity who created the Abyss designated to Contracts with all five Black Winged Chains at once, thus granting him more Abyssal power than any other being in the world.

Path[]

Path image

Paths opening in the material world's skies

The Abyss and the material world exist as entirely separate dimensions which, while closely related and deeply connected, do not naturally intertwine. The natural order of the Abyss is to be kept separate from the material world as much as possible, to the extent that the Baskerville Clan, the Messengers of the Abyss, believe this to be the purpose they were created for. However there are occasions in which the power of the Abyss seeps into the material world or those from the material world can enter the Abyss. This manifests in what is referred to as the Path ( (みち) , Michi).

Paths are distortions that appear in the fabric of either dimension, the material world or the Abyss itself. They are caused when enough Abyssal power is concentrated into one place that it overflows and begins seeping into the material world. Paths are physical signs of the boundary between the two dimensions turning weak and unstable, and thus they radiate an intense and potent power whenever they form. Visually, Paths appear as literal cracks or tears in the air, the size depending on the intensity of the power applied, through which one can view the landscape of the opposite world.

Very rarely do Paths appear naturally without the intervention or design of another. Though it is possible on rare occasions that circumstance results in a concentration of Abyssal power so potent it rips the air and forms a Path. But for the most part, Paths are created manually—primarily, by Chains. As their purpose is to encroach on the material world and form connection through a Contract with a human, Chains aspire to gather the amount of Abyssal power needed to form Paths that can facilitate this purpose. This is seen only once: when Oz Vessalius forms an Illegal Contract with Alice, also known as the most powerful Chain of all time the B-Rabbit. Together they unlocked the power needed to tear open a Path out of the Abyss and escape.[3]

Aside from such a rare instance, Paths are mainly formed during the following scenarios. First, when the hand of an Illegal Contractor's Incuse makes a full revolution. The Illegal Contractor is then made to face condemnation for their transgressing on the harmony of the Abyss, and a Path opens to pull them into the deepest pits of the Abyss. Second, when formed by the Black Winged Chains. As the Chains Contracted to Glen Baskerville, the Black Winged Chains possess extraordinary power; this includes the ability to create Paths to the Abyss at will using their Chains of Condemnation and drop the would-be sinner into the Abyss. Finally, when the "Chains" that distinguish the material world and the Abyss were destroyed. As the force of the universe which divided them was utterly shattered, the two worlds began to forcefully and violently merge. This took the form of countless huge Paths opening in the skies of the material world and Chains flooding in from the Abyss, causing massive destruction and devastation.

The Intention of the Abyss[]

Intention 19th Volume Crop

The Intention of the Abyss, Alice

The Intention of the Abyss (アヴィスの () () , Avisu no Ishi) is the being who supposedly rules over the entirety of the Abyss. She has access to the Abyss's boundless power, and all Chains seek to please, serve, and protect her. It is her presence and influence over the Abyss that is responsible for its current state: chaotic, dark, warped, and constantly encroaching on the material world.

Obtaining the Intention of the Abyss is the ultimate goal of both Pandora and the Baskerville Clan; however each faction's reason for doing so is completely opposing. Pandora, being a governmental organization dedicated to researching the Abyss, desire every ounce of the Abyss's power they can possibly get. As a result their objective is the Intention for the all-encompassing power she is said to possess. Meanwhile, the Baskervilles have inherent to their existences sole access to the Abyss's power and are tasked with the sacred duty of protecting its natural order. The Intention's existence allows outsiders to interfere with the matters of the Abyss which is blasphemous to them, and so they seek to obtain her and then destroy her. They believe eliminating her will restore the order of the Abyss.

The Intention of the Abyss herself only very rarely interacts with the material world, and when she does it is through the innate connection her soul has with Alice's. And in every case of her manifesting in the material world, the Intention displays an obsession with Jack Vessalius—to the point where it is the main motivation for her appearing in the material world. As such, Oz Vessalius, who houses Jack's soul within him, becomes the object of desire for the Intention. This makes him the "key" to obtaining the Intention, and thus places him at the center of Pandora and the Baskervilles' ongoing conflict.

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In reality, the Intention of the Abyss is the result of a generations-long experiment conceived and conducted by the incarnations of Glen Baskerville, with the goal of providing the Core of the Abyss—the single entity with total control over the Abyss—a corporeal body. To this end incarnation of Glen Levi impregnated Child of Ill Omen Lacie and had her give birth upon her execution. While one child, Alice, remained in the material world, her sister dwelled in the depths of the Abyss where the Core came to reside within her body and soul. Thus she was dubbed the Intention of the Abyss, for her existence granted the Core a body with which to exert her will.

As such, the deterioration of the Abyss is not only the result, but the direct reflection of the deterioration of the Intention herself. The landscape of the Abyss being so warped and distorted and filled with broken children's toys stems from the Intention's confined childhood where she only had her empty dolls to keep her company. The golden lights of the Abyss growing darker and darker derives from the Intention's endless loneliness and enforced isolation. The Chains born from the Abyss wishing for Contracts so badly they are indiscriminately violent mirrors the Intention's yearning for connection, so desperate it appears as obsession. And the Intention's apparent hateful grudge against Alice, her own twin sister and other self, is simply the Intention wishing for her own demise and to be freed from being the Intention of the Abyss.

Baskerville Clan[]

Baskerville Clan image 2

The Baskervilles

The Baskerville Clan (バスカヴィルの (いち) (ぞく) , Basukaviru no Ichizoku), also known as the Baskerville Race (バスカヴィルの (たみ) , Basukaviru no Tami), the Crimson Reapers ( (あか) (しに) (がみ) , Akaki Shinigami), and the Messengers of the Abyss (アヴィスの使 () (しゃ) , Avisu no Shisha), are the primary group of humans associated with the Abyss. Their close relation to the Abyss is the reason for the numerous monikers they hold, and true to their reputations the Baskervilles are intrinsically tied to the Abyss and its power. Every aspect of them from their internal hierarchy, to the duties they devote themselves to, to the purpose of their very creation—it is all defined around the Abyss.

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The Baskervilles individually are made up of enhanced humans that are strikingly similar to Chains in ability and the makeup of their bodies. They are very durable and can sustain much more punishment than normal human beings, brushing off attacks that would easily kill a regular person. They also have accelerated healing factors and recover extraordinarily well from even serious injuries. Most notably, Baskervilles are particularly very vulnerable to the powers of Chain Killers such as the Mad Hatter and the B-Rabbit, both Chains being infamous and detested among their ranks. This points to the Baskervilles' enhanced bodies being the result of masses of Abyssal power seeping into their forms upon their creation.

In addition to being Chain-like themselves, Baskervilles have very close relations individually to their Contracted Chains. Contracts between Chains and Baskervilles are considered the only truly "legitimate" Contracts to exist. The Incuse on a Baskerville's body bears no hand, meaning they will never be cast into the Abyss for their Contracts, because it is their lone privilege to Contract with a Chain. A Chain and a Baskerville Contracted to one another are bound for life, and consider one another as equals, comrades-in-arms, partners. They both fight for the same reason; for the sake of the Abyss they were born from, and for the master they serve.

Contrary to assumed belief, Baskervilles are not designated from birth and there is no blood relation between members, aside from occasional chance. Rather they are each chosen by the Droplets of Golden Light, the Abyss itself extending its power to each individual and selecting them to be a Baskerville. Upon this choosing the would-be Baskerville becomes imbued with an inherent Abyssal power, which guides them instinctively to their master Glen. Those chosen by the Droplets have a tendency to cause distortions around them, to have the people around them become subtly warped, and so they are known by their peers to cause misfortune and are thus treated as outcasts. In this manner, Baskervilles have a built-in natural separation between them and outsiders who are not Abyss-chosen.

The Baskervilles were first created by Jury, an entity whose nature and power exist far beyond the realm of human comprehension, alongside the creation of the Abyss itself. This is the reason their existences are so closely intertwined with the Abyss, and it is this same reason that they are granted such complete authority over all matters relating to the Abyss. They have jurisdiction over the Doors to the Abyss, the primary gateways between the Abyss and the material world, and they alone are allowed to Contract with Chains with no repercussions. It is because their command over the Abyss was directly given by the deity who created it. And along with that command, they were told their purpose of existence was to protect the harmony of the Abyss. Thus why they so strictly keep the Abyss separated from the material world.

In reality their true purpose is antithetical to what they had believed. Everything from the Abyss to the material world and beyond was created by Jury and others of her kind, and all these different worlds are classified as "Tales" which are to be preserved in the "Library." Every world is provided with a "Crossroads" in order to reach a different conclusion. The Baskervilles' ultimate purpose is to unquestioningly obey their master Glen Baskerville. And the purpose of Glen himself is to eventually bring about the destruction of the Abyss, and bring the Tale to its predestined and proper "End."

Droplets of Golden Light[]

Droplets of Golden Light image

Droplets of Golden Light seen by Glen Baskerville

The Droplets of Golden Light ( (おう) (ごん) (ひかり) (つぶ) , Ōgon no Hikari no Tsubu) are small bits of light, each no larger than a raindrop, that are invisible to the naked eye. They are the physical manifestations of the powers of the Abyss, and the way they appear is the purest and most untainted form of the Abyss's power. The Droplets are described and depicted as floating pearls of incorporeal light colored a warm gold, which dust over the landscape like snow suspended still in the middle of falling. They are also always said to be "dancing" in the way they move.

The main purpose of the Droplets is to choose humans to be Baskervilles, specially selected Messengers for the Abyss who serve to protect its harmony. As the Droplets are themselves collections of the Abyss's power, they choose the would-be Baskervilles by imbuing themselves in their bodies and granting the people an inherent Abyssal power. This grants chosen Baskervilles an instinctive pull that guides them towards their master and their fellow chosen ones. However, the single person most closely associated with the Abyss above all others, Glen Baskerville, is the sole one able to see the Droplets. For Glen the sight is constant and before their eyes do the Golden Lights dance and flicker endlessly. Thus the prime signal for each incarnation of Glen being who they are with their given destiny is possessing the sight of a world only they can perceive.

The Droplets of Golden Light exist in the material world, though they are completely imperceptible to all other humans. These Droplets are the powers of the Abyss which have drifted from their home dimension into the material world and are the signs of the two worlds intermingling. While this is the primary way in which they are depicted in the story, it is not the most potent way in which they exist. Before the Abyss experienced the Tragedy of Sablier, before darkness ate away at it for the following century, before the Core of the Abyss's loneliness nearly drove everything to destruction—the Abyss was made up of nothing but these pure, warm, beautiful lights of gold.

"Chains"[]

"Chains" image

"Chains"

The Abyss and the material world are entirely separate and distinct dimensions which are not meant to intermingle or unite. Despite this, the two worlds are nonetheless innately connected and integral to one another, always meant to be known in relation to one another. The are meant to be understood as counterparts who exist in parallel sides of the same universe. However the sheer power the Abyss exudes has the potential to pull the material world apart and drag it all into itself. This merging of dimensions, this vitiation of the natural balance of the universe, would result in the utter ruination of both worlds in the form of a violent collision course. Thus there exists a specific powerful force that both prevents this violent merging and maintains their intrinsic connection—the "Chains" ( (くさり) , Kusari).

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Analogous to tying together a cracked crystal, the "Chains" wrap around the world and keep its shape intact. For this purpose they are incredibly powerful, so much so that incredible power itself would be needed to break them. Jack Vessalius, wanting exactly this, directly asked for that power from the Intention of the Abyss herself, drawing on her control over the entire Abyss. The Intention offered Oz, a toy rabbit passed down from her mother, and turned him into a Chain more powerful than any other ever seen. Specifically, Oz the B-Rabbit was given powers that counter the Abyss, which were used to shatter the "Chains" to catastrophic ends. The only way they could be repaired is through the combined efforts of all five Black Winged Chains at once, or the direct interference of the Core of the Abyss.

Once the "Chains" had been destroyed, the world began to fall apart very literally. In the material world, earthquakes rattled the land and began to split everything into pieces. Paths of unprecedented sizes and amounts opened up in the sky everywhere, from which Chains emerged and flooded through en masse. The foundation and boundary between the two worlds was steadily breaking and causing both to fall into one another. The Abyss was starting to swallow the world whole.

The "Chains" are incorporeal and invisible, unable to be perceived by anyone under normal circumstances. Visually they manifest as actual literal chains which are as ever-present as the very air is, wrapping around and connected to every place in the world. Once destroyed they begin slowly shattering link by link, these fractured pieces becoming visible as floating sand upon falling apart. However when they reform, the "Chains" become visible and material to all who are present to witness them. They appear as chains made of pure golden light.

Doors to the Abyss[]

Doors to the Abyss image

Doors to the Abyss

The Doors to the Abyss (アヴィスの (とびら) , Avisu no Tobira) are the primary gateway between the parallel dimensions of the material world and the Abyss. While Paths are the primary way Chains enter from the Abyss, they are more irregularities, tears in the fabric of the universe, and thus are unstable in presence and will always inevitably close again with enough time. In comparison, the Doors to the Abyss are consistently managed pathways between the two worlds and are constantly available to use for travelling between dimensions. They are far larger than any Path could ever be and thus can release far more Abyssal energy onto the world. As a result, the Doors are heavily regulated and monitored to prevent anything catastrophic from occurring out of them.

And so, Jury—the deity who created everything from the Abyss to the world itself to everything beyond—designed the order of the Abyss thusly. The Baskerville Clan were tasked with the sacred duty of maintaining the harmony of the Abyss and keeping it separate from the material world at all times. The only being ever permitted to control these Doors was their master Glen Baskerville, who both Contracted with the five Black Winged Chains who guarded the Doors and held rightful ownership in the form of the Keys to the Doors ( (とびら) (かぎ) , Tobira no Kagi). Using these combined forces, the Abyss and the material world were never allowed to interact substantially beyond a threshold for the Baskervilles to maintain their power. It is with the Doors, the Keys, and the Chains altogether that the order of the Abyss continued as is for eons and generations.

Keys to the Doors image

Keys to the Doors

This all changed when the Tragedy of Sablier occurred. After the capital city was cast into the Abyss, the Baskervilles lost everything: their numbers, their master, and their ownership of the Doors, the Keys, and the Chains. As a result the Abyss was thrown into chaos and its golden light darkened until it was a mere shadow of itself. With the Baskervilles out of commission, Pandora and the Four Great Dukedoms forcefully took ownership of the Doors, Keys, and Chains left behind. Possessing all this power meant that they, despite being outsiders to the Baskervilles, had access to the Abyss's power and could exert it however way they wished. As such, the Keys end up becoming a source of the conflict of power between Pandora and the Baskervilles.

Black Winged Chains[]

The Black Winged Chains ( (くろ) (つばさ) () つチェイン, Kuroi Tsubasa wo Motsu Chein) are a group of Chains who are the most powerful of their kind—Raven, Gryphon, Dodo, Owl, and Jabberwock. These Chains are defined by their possessing wings of pitch black feathers, and an Abyssal power, connection, and purpose that far surpass near every other Chain. Each one guards a Door to the Abyss, acting to guard and maintain the boundary between the material world and the Abyss.

The Black Winged Chains originally belonged to the Baskerville Clan. But after the Tragedy of Sablier, in which they nearly caused the ruin of the world itself and were thus defeated by Jack Vessalius, Pandora took ownership of the Chains and their corresponding Doors. Aside from the sole Chain whom the Baskervilles managed to keep their hold on, the Black Winged Chains were divded among the Four Great Dukedoms, each family's head Legally Contracting with it. As a result, the Chains represent the amount of power each Great Dukedom has in comparison not only to those classed lower, but to one another.


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Since the beginning of time and the creation of the Abyss and the world itself, the Doors to the Abyss, their corresponding Keys, and the Black Winged Chains have all rightfully belonged to Glen Baskerville. This is by the design of the deity who created all, Jury, who is the same being to have given the Baskervilles their sacred task of protecting the order of the Abyss. Thus the Black Winged Chains are the subject of the Succession Ceremonies of Glen Baskerville, wherein each incarnation of Glen one by one passes on his Chains to the new bearer of the name. Thus they are the subject of this cycle of power being concentrated into a single person which has continued for eons and generations.

The Black Winged Chains subsequently obey the every word of their master and Contractor Glen. And as the head of the Messengers of the Abyss, he is the one most responsible for maintaining the order of the Abyss. One of these responsibilities he holds is passing judgement on the Children of Ill Omen, determined by Jury to be abhorrent irregularities not permitted to exist. And so each incarnation of Glen uses his Black Winged Chains' Chains of Condemnation ( (だん) (ざい) (くさり) , Danzai no Kusari) to cast the Child of Ill Omen into the Abyss. Thus is the pattern that has continued for an unknowable amount of time.

Glen Baskerville[]

Glen Baskerville (グレン=バスカヴィル, Guren Basukaviru) is an entity, title, and role that has been passed down from generation to generation by way of reincarnation since the beginning of time. He is the master of the Baskerville Clan, the one with control over the Doors to the Abyss, the sole rightful Contractor of the five Black Winged Chains, and the only being who is permitted to contact the Core of the Abyss. He holds the most power over every other humanoid, commands absolutely and unquestioningly over all Baskervilles, has the closest relation to the Abyss, and is the crux around which the Tale is spun.


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The universe they all live within and the Abyss by which Glen's existence is defined was first created by the deific entity Jury. The purpose of the Abyss is to serve as a "Tale," one of countless other versions, which is recorded by the Jury then preserved in the "Library" of the great beyond. Each parallel world and Tale is to have a distinct conclusion, for which a "Crossroads" is provided to facilitate. This is Glen Baskerville, who was to be the center around which the Tale of their world would spin; thus his continually reincarnating nature, to guarantee that a Glen would be present and impactful in every single convergence of time. It was for this reason that Glen had been granted by the Jury so many privileges afforded to no other, the most vital one of which being his duty to keep the Abyss and the material world separate, to maintain the order of the Abyss.

In response, the Core of the Abyss created the Children of Ill Omen to serve as counterpart and opposition to Glen. As irregular existences created by the Core herself, Children of Ill Omen could not be perceived by the Jury nor controlled by Glen. Their existences were thus feared and reviled for the threat they posed to the order of the Abyss, and Jury commanded for the execution of every single one without exception. Glen and the Child of Ill Omen, thanks to the pattern enforced by the Hundred Cycles, would always be born in great proximity with one another, usually manifesting as an elder and younger sibling respectively. Upon coming into their roles, the Child of Ill Omen was slated for execution by the time they reached adulthood and the incarnation of Glen was to be the one to perform it. Thus is the system that has continued for eons since establishment.

However in truth, Jury has all along deceived Glen about the true purpose of his creation. In order to preserve the Tales they create in their Library, the Jurors design each Tale to have a different and distinct conclusion, for each world to be brought to an "End." This is Glen Baskerville's role, to bring about that eventual End. Despite being told that his existence was what protected the harmony of the Abyss, he has all along been predestined to utterly destroy it. Even Glen's acts of seeming defiance against the Jury meant to defile the order of the Abyss only served the Jury's intent and played into their careful design. Thus the contrast between the Child of Ill Omen who was created from the Core's desire to be saved, and Glen who was created by the deities who anticipated her death.

Each individual incarnation of Glen and their relationships to the title exemplifies the nature and purpose of the role they've taken. Levi, who was only callous towards human suffering even of the kind he himself inflicted, was the conductor of the experiment which kickstarted the series of events leading to the Tragedy of Sablier. And Oswald, whose upholding of Glen's duties and burdens was exemplary by Jury's standards, by far showed the most violence against Children of Ill Omen who existed to save the Core of the Abyss. The two of them who best embodied Glen's divinely designed purpose and fulfilled that predestined role so well are the prime arbiters of the world's destruction which almost came to pass. In comparison Gilbert who rejected his role as Glen and the harm it caused and Leo who made a stand to redefine Glen's purpose for destruction, were both vital in preventing the world's destruction and meaningfully saving the Tale from a tragic End.

Children of Ill Omen[]

Children of Ill Omen, sometimes translated as Children of Misfortune ( (まが) (つみ) () , Magatsumi no Ko), are a group of people born with red eyes. Prior to the Tragedy of Sablier, Children of Ill Omen were regarded as cursed beings, harbingers of disaster, and blasphemous in their very existences, and thus had been subject to considerable persecution. By the time of Oz Vessalius's escape from the Abyss, cultural knowledge of Children of Ill Omen had faded.


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In common usage, a "Child of Ill Omen" simply referred to a person born with at least one red eye. No other distinction was explicitly made between a person who was Ill Omened and one who was not, at least among laypeople. Those born with red eyes were referred to as "cursed," though no name existed for the curse separate from those afflicted by it. Prior to the Tragedy of Sablier, Children of Ill Omen were regarded as heralds of misfortune, and were subjected to persecution, trafficking, and abuse. After the Tragedy of Sablier, the stigma surrounding Children of Ill Omen faded, and legends of red-eyed children as those who brought calamity fell out of public consciousness.

Among Baskervilles, a Child of Ill Omen was the only being other than Glen Baskerville capable of interacting with the Core of the Abyss. These people were branded by their red eyes. As only Glen was permitted to interact with the Core, and even then only under extreme circumstances, Children of Ill Omen were regarded as heretical. Their ability to interact with the Core gave them the potential to upset the balance between the material world and the Abyss which was the Baskervilles' duty to protect, making them extremely dangerous. Children of Ill Omen were thus set for execution for their curse. This was usually carried out by an ascendant Glen, who was believed to have retroactively generated the Child of Ill Omen.

In truth the purposes for the creation of the Baskervilles, the Children of Ill Omen, and Glen which had been close secret since the beginning of time are not what they themselves had believed. Jury, the deity who created everything, conceived the Abyss as a "Tale" to be lead to a designed "End"—that is, to be destroyed. Glen is the being designated as the "Crossroads" who will lead the Tale to its End, and the Baskervilles merely exist to obey his every command and unquestioningly serve his will. The Children of Ill Omen are the sole exception to this. Created as aberrations by the Core of the Abyss herself, they exist outside of the Jury's control and perception and came into being as a direct response to counter Glen's existence. Thus the Jury's intense revulsion towards Children of Ill Omen and adamant commands for their executions.

What exactly determines a person being Ill Omened is never expanded upon aside from the characterizing attribute of red eyes. This is because Children of Ill Omen are only created retroactively, regarded as a distortion caused by the existence of Glen, and thus there are no qualities that can be considered inherent to being a Child of Ill Omen. The Core of the Abyss creates Children of Ill Omen due to her loneliness, out of her yearning desire for connection through the Abyssal desolation of her isolated life. While this motivation behind their existences greatly and deeply influences the nature of the Ill Omened, this less so determines the virtue of who they are from birth and more so indicates the character of the people they would eventually become. Rather than possessing a predestined fate from their births, the Child of Ill Omen is simply a role that a select few step into due to their values, decisions, and beliefs.

Thus all known Children of Ill Omen share many a commonality that represent the role they've accepted. They all exist as counterparts to an incarnation of Glen. They all harbor a certain awareness that grants them clarity to the nature of the universe, the design of the system that operates it, and the roles played by those around them. They are all associated with powers that countercheck the powers of the Abyss as wielded by Glen and the Jury. They are all outwardly off-putting, unsettling, and foreboding in presence; which is itself an intentional act put on by each Child. They all make deliberate use of a mask constructed from false presumptions and external expectations that explicitly serve to distance themselves from others. They all live by the same modus operandi, using and manipulating people for their own calculated ends, and without exception these ends of theirs are selfless and altruistic in intent. They all have placed absolute faith in an ideal that they believe is more valuable than their own lives. And most vitally, all of them ultimately fought for the same goal—to save the Tale from its lonely End, which itself reflects the reason for their very creation—to grant the Abyss true connection.

The Core of the Abyss[]

Core image

The Core of the Abyss

The Core of the Abyss (アヴィスの (かく) , Avisu no Kaku) is the true being who holds control over the entirety of the Abyss. She has been referred to as many things; a microcosm of the universe, the blueprint of the world, the very heart of the Abyss. She is something of a god, holding the power of all creation and destruction in her sole form. In every possible way, she is the personification of the Abyss itself.

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The Abyss, the material world it parallels, and everything in between was created by Jury, whose kind observe all the different dimensions as "Tales" to be preserved in the "Library" of the great beyond. As each Tale needs to reach a different conclusion, the ultimate purpose of the Core of the Abyss is to eventually be destroyed by Glen Baskerville, bringing the Tale to its correct "End." Jury, never telling the Baskervilles their true purpose, guides the incarnations of Glen in their duties; primarily protecting the "order of the Abyss" by keeping it separate from the material world at all costs. As a result the Core since her creation has been subject to enforced isolation, never meeting another soul outside of those intent to bring her demise.

It was out of this loneliness, so deep and inescapable she didn't even realize it to be loneliness, that the Core of the Abyss created the Children of Ill Omen. People who bore red eyes, who were the sole beings exempt from Jury's and Glen's all-encompassing influence, who were made from the Core's desire for connection. Because they could not be perceived by the Jury and were able to interact with the Core so freely, the Children of Ill Omen were made the subject of extreme persecution. Each Glen would be commanded to execute every Child of Ill Omen by the time they reached adulthood to prevent the order from being disrupted and allow the Tale to continue towards its End. Despite this, there eventually came to be a Child of Ill Omen who nevertheless ventured into the Abyss and formed a deep connection with the Core. Lacie.

From their companionship, Lacie sought to end the Core's loneliness—despite knowing her impending execution would eternally separate them. First in the form of a pair of stuffed rabbits to connect them from afar, then in her biological twin daughters who both bore the name "Alice." The grief and loneliness from Lacie's death drove the Core to retreat into one of the girl's bodies, who was then dubbed the Intention of the Abyss for her role as the Core's bodily form. As a result the light of the Abyss dimmed and the Core's powers diminished, which eventually allows for the Tragedy of Sablier to occur. Though in the end it was averted, the event nearly caused the material world to fall into the Abyss, which would've been the destruction of both worlds and the death of the Core. This trauma was so great that the Tragedy was engraved into the Hundred Cycles, like a wound that refused to heal, and was doomed to repeat once again.

Thus the true reason behind the current state of the Abyss and its continuous deterioration, is the Core of the Abyss and the effects of everything that had been done to her. Her enforced isolation since creation which engulfed her in eternal loneliness; her intense trauma from the Tragedy which continued to resonate for a century after its occurrence; her grief over Lacie's death and the Intention's slow and steady decay of both body and mind. At the highest peaks of her pain and the darkest depths of her despair, the Core nearly allowed for her own destruction after the "Chains" had been shattered once again. The only way to ultimately save the Abyss and the universe from utter devastation was to end the Core's loneliness and grant her companionship.

Tragedy of Sablier[]

The Tragedy of Sablier (サブリエの () (げき) , Saburie no Higeki) is the most significant event regarding the Abyss. It is the inciting incident to cause all conflict, it is the culmination of all the consequences that preceded it, and it is the center of the entire story of Pandora Hearts.

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What caused the Tragedy of Sablier reaches far past any single person or group of persons, and encompasses the scope of the entire universe. The Tragedy first incited from the relationship between the Abyss and those who interacted with it most often, the Baskervilles and all related parties. Since the conception of the very universe they live in by Jury, a system has been set in place to concentrate all oppressive power into a very small and selective group of people, with the express purpose of leading to the eventual end of the world. Glen Baskerville would hold all command and control over those around him, his power absolute and unquestioned, his role to serve the whims of the Jury who watch in anticipation for the world's end. The Core of the Abyss, who personifies the Abyss itself, is forcibly isolated for her entire life and never allowed true connection with anyone. Children of Ill Omen, created from the Core's loneliness and the only beings able to defy Glen and Jury, would be violently persecuted and slated for execution by Glen by the time each reached adulthood. This system has continued for eons without interruption or change.

Until a line of incarnations of Glen devised an "experiment" to give the Core of the Abyss a corporeal body and make her divine power more accessible to them. Levi, an incarnation of Glen, was to impregnate Lacie, a Child of Ill Omen, before her execution so she would give birth in the Abyss. Lacie recognized the Core as a person and wished to end her loneliness so she agreed, hoping that her gift of a pair of stuffed rabbits and her future child would grant the Core companionship after her death. Once she was an adult and her elder brother Oswald completed his succession as Glen, he executed her. Upon being cast into the Abyss Lacie gave birth to twin daughters who bore the name "Alice." One girl remained in the material world while the other dwelled in the Abyss, and the Core became extremely attached to the latter out of grief for Lacie. For her role as the Core's bodily vessel, she was dubbed the Intention of the Abyss. The stuffed rabbits shared between Lacie and the Core, which had gained sentience upon being given the name "Oz," became the girls' companion.

But before her death, Lacie would run away from home as a teenager and save Jack, a homeless bastard son of the Vessalius house, from starvation before instilling in him the will to live. Jack became obsessed with Lacie and did whatever necessary to ascend in social ranking to meet her again. They would finally reunite as adults, and Jack would form a brief but deep and impactful friendship with both Lacie and Oswald. Once Lacie was executed, Jack became lost. Then Levi revealed to him the experiment he conducted and explained the entire inner workings of the Abyss, and Oz passed onto Jack the last fragment of Lacie's memories and feelings from the Abyss. From this he became motivated to cast the world into the Abyss in her memory. He would manipulate and use many people in this endeavor; including coconspirator Miranda Barma, Lacie's twin daughters, pair of brothers Gilbert and Vincent who were to inherit Oswald and Lacie's roles, and Oz.

On the day of Gilbert's first Succession Ceremony, Vincent, who'd been tricked into believing the Ceremony would kill his brother, was told to interrupt it by opening the Doors to the Abyss before it could start. The Intention of the Abyss used his Ill Omened body as a conduit to blow the gateway open. Jack through the Doors Contracts with Oz, turned into the Chain the B-Rabbit by the Intention. Jack used Oz's powers to sever the "Chains" separating the world from the Abyss. However Glen used the powers of his Black Winged Chains to stop the "Chains" collapse, saving the world from destruction, but the incident would come at the cost of Sablier dropping into the Abyss. As humans turned to Chains would be excluded from the Hundred Cycles, he ordered his underlings to slaughter all humans. Jack and Glen then confronted one another and fought, but with Glen weakened and power spread thin, Jack defeated and eventually decapitated him. To restart the "Chains" collapse Jack tried to go ask the Intention to give him more power. Instead he met her sister Alice who loathed him for the harm he'd done to the Intention and Oz. Jack tried to force the Intention out, but Alice refused to allow it by killing herself with a pair of scissors. After this the Intention became determined to never allow this to happen again and made to destroy her own memories. Alice, to protect Oz from having to commit further destruction, took the B-Rabbit's powers into herself and made to destroy her sister's memories. The Core of the Abyss wouldn't allow this for the harm it would cause both girls. The powers of the B-Rabbit and the Core collided, with Jack caught in the middle. In the end the Intention's memories were torn up and her sister's taken as replacement, sending Alice with only the B-Rabbit's powers and no memories into the depths of the Abyss. Jack was killed in the conflict, but due to the atrocities he'd committed the Core disallowed him salvation from the Hundred Cycles, meaning he could not truly die and was cursed to age circuitously until his soul burnt out to nothing. All of Sablier fell into the Abyss, with Jack as the sole survivor.

The aftereffects of the Tragedy were devastating on all accounts. In the material world, Jack looted four Keys to the Doors to the Abyss from Glen's body. After being taken under protection, he distributed the Keys, Doors, and Black Winged Chains to four noble houses—the Vessaliuses, the Barmas, the Rainsworths, and the Nightrays. The four families created Pandora, an organization which policed human interactions with the Abyss. With the powers of the Abyss in their hands, the four families declared themselves the Four Great Dukedoms, the new ruling authority of the country. Jack Vessalius was declared a hero. Arthur Barma helped to compose a series of memoirs on his life that were filled with falsehoods and framed Jack as the hero of Sablier. Glen's body was dismembered and sealed in crystal to prevent the return of his soul to the material world. As the memoirs neared completion, Jack's body showed signs of regressing into that of a child, and he confessed to truth of the Tragedy. Unable to speak against Jack without destroying his own political position, Arthur assisted Jack in faking his death and falsifying records of the Tragedy, though he left behind an encrypted message of the truth just before his own death. Without the Baskervilles to perpetuate the legend of the Child of Ill Omen, stigma surrounding those born with red eyes began to disappear. However, not all were supportive of the new government, leading to a few decades of civil war within the country. Those resistant to the Four Great Dukedoms were all eliminated, and by the events of the story, they served as the unquestioned heads of state.

In the Abyss, a massive wound opened up as the material and souls of an entire city was dragged into its base. The Core of the Abyss suffered great trauma, the event becoming engraved in the Hundred Cycles and forced to repeat about once every hundred years. Darkness further warped the Abyss, having already been twisted by the Core's inhabitance within the Intention of the Abyss's body. Though the Intention had hoped to destroy her desire for Jack along with her memories, the transfer of her sister's memories to herself instead made her confused and unstable. Her antagonism towards her sister returned, though Alice had no idea why, and the two became enemies within the Abyss. Vincent managed to hold onto Gilbert's body as they were dragged into the Abyss, and encountered the Intention as she confronted an Ill Omened Illegal Contractor named Kevin Legnard. As the Intention ejected them, Vincent and Gilbert were separated. Respectively, they arrived at the Nightray and Vessalius Doors about fifteen years before most of the story's events, and are implied to be among if not the first of the Baskervilles to escape the Abyss. Any humans who had not been killed before Sablier was dragged into the Abyss were turned into Chains, including Miranda Barma, who was Contracted by Vincent as Demios the Executioner. No Glen Baskerville would successfully incarnate for the next century as the Hundred Cycles guided the world into creating the Tragedy once again.

Hundred Cycles[]

The Hundred Cycles ( (ひゃく) (めぐ) , Hyaku no Megu) is a fundamental foundational force upon which the universe operates. It is the method by which people reincarnate, it is the etching of past events onto the fabric of the Abyss, it is the way the Abyss is referred to by its creators as a "Tale." It is, in every way, the nature of time itself.

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The most commonly found and explicit way in which the Hundred Cycles manifests is through reincarnation. When a person dies, losing their corporeal vessel, their soul is turned into golden light and (while guided by the wings of Angels as stated in certain writings) enters the Abyss. The soul traverses through that world covered in lights of gold, and after one hundred years begins a new journey, entering the material world once again as a new life. All pure human souls go through this process, though there are some notable exceptions. Jack Vessalius, for committing such atrocities against the Abyss in the form of the Tragedy of Sablier, was banished from the Hundred Cycles and cursed to an existence void of either death or life. And despite their origins and conceptions being completely nonhuman, Oz and Echo both have been accepted into the Abyss for the personhood their souls have displayed.

The most significant example of the Hundred Cycles facilitating reincarnation is with Glen Baskerville. Since the creation of the Abyss itself, Glen has existed as an entity to serve as Jury's agent, maintaining the order of the Abyss and guiding the "Tale" to its purpose and "End." This name, title, and role has been passed down from generation to generation for eons—specifically by way of reincarnation, with the new incarnation of Glen harboring his predecessors' consciousnesses as he fulfills his role. It is the Hundred Cycles that allows for this transferring of souls to occur. In addition, while Children of Ill Omen do not operate by reincarnation in the same manner, they are created as a direct responsive result of Glen's existence. And in a consistent pattern, the incarnations of Glen and the Children of Ill Omen of every generation find themselves to be very closely related; the majority of the time manifesting as an older and a younger sibling. Thus not only are souls reincarnated, but the Hundred Cycles will repeat the dynamics and relationships involving those with significant roles.

In addition, it has been stated several times that entire events taking place within the world are doomed to repeat. Everything that occurs and will ever occur is written into the Abyss, and the history of the world sealed into the Abyss is constantly referred to as "memories." And depending on their nature and impact, certain events and memories may be called "trauma." In the same way that a person who has been triggered may relive their trauma, those events which are traumatic for the Abyss will inevitably happen again. And though the Abyss's powers being able to change the past is for the most part mere legend, there is one case in which the past has been changed. A series of tragic deaths was successfully averted by the Abyss interfering with the world and entirely erasing those events from time. Less than a decade after the fact, the tragic deaths happened anyway as a result of an entirely separate happenstance. Thus the Hundred Cycles states that even if an event may be changed or prevented entirely, it will inevitably happen anyways should the root cause never be acknowledged. The Tragedy which nearly tore apart the world is doomed to happen again, to finish the job the next time around, unless that trauma is healed.

Hundred Cycles image

Memories of the world written into the Abyss

While the Hundred Cycles is only ever referred to in the figurative sense, recognized as a force greater than any person could fathom, there are a handful of times in which a physical form, or at the least something approximating such, is shown. The Hundred Cycles is the very fabric of time for the universe it operates in—it is the force which causes the Abyss to flow, the world to move forward. Thus it is through the Hundred Cycles and interfering with its tide that beings can travel to the past and alter history. Only those who possess substantial Abyssal power, such as the Baskervilles, can materially interfere with the past. However, Children of Ill Omen, irregular existences created solely by the Core of the Abyss herself and thus are exempt from the limitations of Abyssal power, can perceive all temporal axes with their Ill Omened eyes.

The Hundred Cycles reincarnates the souls of the people who live in the world, bringing them back for a new life after one hundred turns. It is the memories of the Abyss itself, every event from the beginning to the end of time etched into its fabric. It is the very flow of time that drives forward and lays out the path for the world to progress in. In the way that the Jury who created everything continuously call the world a "Tale," the Hundred Cycles is the manifestation of the Tale that is the world and the story that spins from the Abyss.

True Form[]

The Abyss since its first appearance has been steeped in mystery and secrecy and uncertainty. It manifests as another dimension parallel to the material world and is the source for all the strange and abnormal, all that can be called supernatural and magical in the universe. It is the origin of all unique mythos and lore, but it is so much more than simply that. The true nature of the Abyss can be found in the way it is described. The Abyss causes all conflicts, not only starts but ends all events that happen, serves as the very purpose of the world. It is linked to all flows of time, it is the thing that connects every moment that has ever happened in history. It is the blueprint of the world, the beginning of everything as well as its ending. Everything that ever was and ever will be is written into the Abyss. Thus there is only one answer as to what is the true nature of the Abyss.

The Abyss is the story of Pandora Hearts itself.

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At the beginning of time before anything ever was, the universe made up of countless parallel worlds was created by the Jury. One of these worlds, the one primarily seen in Pandora Hearts, was the Abyss and everything that connects to it. Jury created the Abyss to serve as a "Tale" ( (もの) (がたり) , Monogatari) which she and her kind record from beginning to end in order to preserve in the "Library" ( (しょ) () , Shoko) in the great beyond. A story with no ending has no meaning—the reason for the existence of the Abyss is to be concluded, for the Tale to reach its "End" (終焉 (ピリオド) , Piriodo) . In other words, the Abyss was created to by destroyed. For this reason, Jury would provide the Tale with a "Crossroads" ( (ぶん) () (てん) , Bunkiten) that would facilitate the journey towards the proper conclusion. This Crossroads is Glen Baskerville, who serves the Jury's purpose without ever knowing what that purpose is. To this end, Jury would design the structure of the Abyss to concentrate all power into Glen singularly so that no other being may be able to stop him from leading the world to its End.

The Abyss was created by totally unfeeling and apathetic entities who only desire destruction, it has been slated for death since it was born, and it is constantly treated as an object to exploit. Nevertheless the Abyss is not only demonstrably alive, but a person with full capacity for human emotions. The most clear illustration of this is in the way the Hundred Cycles works, which is analogous to memories and even, when it comes to certain devastating events, trauma. The Abyss is personified by its Core. Despite being a living being, the Core had no real sense of personhood for a significant stretch of her lifespan, due to being forcibly isolated since her creation. To limit and concentrate the power the Core could exert into Glen's hands alone and facilitate the Tale's conclusion—that is, her death—the Core was never permitted to interact with or know another being outside of those who intended to end her. As a result, though she didn't even know what loneliness was, the Core yearned for someone with whom she could connect. And from that yearning came the Children of Ill Omen.

The existences of Children of Ill Omen are the sole exception in their universe. Whereas every other aspect of the world at large was created from Abyssal power put to use by the careful design of Jury, Children of Ill Omen were created solely by the Core herself with no other interference. As a result, they are able to resist the powers of the Abyss wielded by Glen and defy the control of the Jury, the latter of whom feared their existences ruining the carefully designed ending aspired for. Children of Ill Omen were thus intensely persecuted not only by Glen and the Baskervilles but society at large. Despite the overwhelming attempts to suppress them, there nevertheless came a Child of Ill Omen who would connect with the Core. Lacie, the first to recognize the Core as a person and offer her companionship. Because of the system in place they could not be with one another for long, so Lacie spent her entire life doing all she could to end the loneliness of the Abyss.

Lacie and the Core of the Abyss's connection was so deep and moving that Lacie's eventual death caused the Core intense grief unlike anything else. Now that the Core knew the warmth of companionship, having it be taken away so suddenly made the cold loneliness even more potent. As a result the Core retreated into the body of Lacie's daughter, which caused the light of the Abyss to dim and fade. The Abyss grew darker and darker, and at the same time in the material world events began to snowball towards a terrible fate. Things escalated one by one until those in the material world connected to Lacie—Jack, Oswald, Levi, Alice, Vincent, Gilbert—found themselves at the center of the Tragedy of Sablier. The catastrophe of attempting to violently conjoin the material world with the Abyss almost resulted in the Core's death. It was so incredibly traumatic that the event was engraved into the Hundred Cycles and doomed to repeat. Thus the Tale nearly met its End.

After that, the Abyss was utterly ruined. Since its occurrence the Tragedy defined the Abyss in its entirety, in every possible sense of the word. It is the direct reason why the Abyss has become the uninhabitable landscape it currently stands as, filled with nothing but darkness and power grown twisted and chaotic. In the material world the exact same applied, in how its current state was entirely influenced by and the direct result of the Tragedy of Sablier. The state of the government that ruled over the country, the increased numbers of Contractors populating it, the places where Oz and Alice and Gilbert ended up at the start, the goals they come to pursue (figuring out what was his "sin," uncovering her lost memories and identity, finding and defeating Glen Baskerville). Everything within the setting of the material world and the Abyss has been defined by the Tragedy of Sablier since the story's beginning.

The landscape of the Abyss as it was first seen. All-consuming darkness as far as the eye could see, filled with rotting and broken toys and the half-destroyed remnants of a city. Populated with Chains so desperate to Contract with humans they will tear themselves apart. The powers of the Abyss "malfunctioning" and steadily encroaching onto the material world by force. Everything that has happened to the characters we watch. All the death, abuse, treachery, and suffering that saturates so much of the story for so long. The Four Great Dukedoms and Pandora concentrating all the power in the country within themselves as a corrupt and unethical state. All who opposed that state's establishment being brutally slaughtered. The Nightrays' situation spiraling so far out of control that it results in the conception of the Headhunter. Oz's father Xai selfishly loathing his own son so deeply that he casts Oz into the Abyss himself. Elliot's death. The way in which the Tale has spun cannot be called anything but a tragedy. And with Leo coming into Glen Baskerville and Jack taking over Oz to destroy the "Chains" once again, it is inevitable for that Tragedy to happen once again.

"Someone once said it was a dark place that swallowed everything up. But it wasn't as if there was never any light there."[1][7]

Despite the Abyss being solely a place of deep, deep darkness for such a long time, there still existed fragments of light. A story being full of suffering and violence and tragedy does not mean it is defined by it. The revelation that Jack Vessalius caused the Tragedy of Sablier and the falling out afterwards is undeniable the darkest and lowest the story has ever gotten, with everything either lost or about to be lost. But it also exists as a vital turning point to decide in which direction the Tale would go after. Then Gilbert defies Glen and everything that Glen stood for, refusing to allow anymore harm to come from the role and fighting to mend the harm that has already been caused. Then Oz comes to his self-realization, that the impact others have on him and he has on others defines his existence as a person who loves and is loved in turn. Then Alice returns, finding affirmation of her existence within her companions and herself whom she is determined to save. Everyone comes together to try and save their world from being destroyed, to save the Tale from its conclusion.

The characters' pursuit of saving their story's world leads to impossible miracle after impossible miracle to occur. Glen Baskerville rebels against the will of the Jury for the first time since his existence came into being. The Baskervilles defy their master Glen for the first time and collaborate with their enemies Pandora for sharing the same goal. A Child of Ill Omen is denied as being a "cursed" existence and declared worthy of living. Jack Vessalius gives up on his destruction of the world and confesses the truth of everything he's done. The Intention of the Abyss—Alice comes to peace with what had been done to her. What gives a story its meaning is the manner in which it ends. The world had within it nothing but the cruelest violence, the Abyss drowned in its own darkness and pain and loneliness, tragedy deeply defined the trajectory of how both unfolded for the longest time. However tragedy is not the way it ends. A story may either conclude in destruction or salvation, and the way the Tale ends is the same as the way the Abyss is meant to be. The true form of the Abyss.

True Form

The Abyss, the Tale, the world


A world endlessly full of light. Golden droplets as far as the eye can see, floating and dancing and shining like overflowing stars. A sea of radiance that fills the entire world with warmth. A sight to perfectly represent the story it tells.

The Abyss began as a place full of darkness and despair and unfathomably profound pain, and the story that spins from it starts out full of death and violence and one defined by tragedy. But this is not its true form by any means. The Abyss has always meant to be full of nothing but light, and Pandora Hearts ends as a Tale full of nothing but compassion and hope and love.

Trivia[]

  • Coming soon!

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Retrace I: Innocent Calm
  2. 2.0 2.1 Retrace II: Tempest of Conviction
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Retrace III: Prisoner&Alichino
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Retrace IX: Question
  5. Retrace VI: Where am I?
  6. Retrace VIII: Whisperer
  7. Retrace CIV: Will

Navigation[]

v - e - t Pandora Hearts
Characters

Main: AliceGilbert NightrayOz Vessalius
Vessalius: Ada VessaliusAda's CatsJack VessaliusMrs. KateOscar VessaliusRachel CecileSara VessaliusXai Vessalius
Nightray: Bernard NightrayBernice NightrayClaude NightrayEchoElliot NightrayErnest NightrayFred NightrayHansLeoMrs. FinnRaymond NightrayVanessa NightrayVincent Nightray
Rainsworth: EmilySharon RainsworthShelly RainsworthSheryl RainsworthXerxes Break
Barma: Arthur BarmaCalum LunettesGrunerMiranda BarmaReim LunettesRufus Barma
Baskervilles: CeliaDugFangGlen BaskervilleGlen Baskerville (♀)JuryLacieLeviLilyLottieNoiseOswald
Abyss: The Core of the AbyssThe Intention of the Abyss
Other: Flower GirlThe GeneralHarris WatsonHeadhunterIsla YuraJyantaMariePhillipe WestRytasTurnerWilliam West
Chains: AlbusB-RabbitBandersnatchCardsCheshireThe CookDemiosDodoDormouseDuldeeDuldumEquusFawnFlower Girl's ChainGrimGryphonHedgehog ChainsHumpty DumptyThe Intention's DollsJabberwockLacie's ChainLarsLeonMad BabyMad HatterMarch HareOwlRavenRocking-Horse-FlySnap-Dragon-FlyTove
Caucus Race: Dahlia GarlandGarland ButlerGeraldGreat MotherJosephineMarcelMia

Nobility Barma DukedomBaskerville ClanNightray DukedomRainsworth DukedomSinclair FamilyVessalius DukedomWest Family
Terminology Species & Factions: Black Winged ChainsChainsContractorsIsla Yura's CultPandora

Objects: Arthur Barma's Memoirs"Chains"Doors to the AbyssJack Vessalius' Pocket WatchKeys to the DoorsSilent Clock TowerStone Seals
Events: Coming-of-Age CeremonySuccession CeremoniesTragedy of Sablier
Miscellaneous: AngelsChildren of Ill OmenLacie (Song)Holy KnightStatice

Locations AbyssBarma HomelandCarillonDimensional PlaneÉbaucheHouse of FiannaLacie's TombLuca's GateLutwidge AcademyReveilSablierTower
Volumes IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIXXXIXIIXIIIXIVXVXVIXVIIXVIIIXIXXXXXIXXIIXXIIIXXIV
Omake Maidora HeartsBumbling Sleuth BreakMagical Girl Ill-Omened❤LaciePandora Academy
Episodes 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425Special Episodes
DVDs IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIXBonus Story
Guidebooks & Artbooks 8.518.524 + 1Official Animation Guide〜Odds and Ends〜「There is.」
Light Novels 123
Drama CDs Pandora Hearts Drama CDNightmare of Vessalius Academy!Alice's Tea PartyAnimedia Radio SpecialRadio Special 1Radio Special 2Radio Special 3Retrace 42.5Another Story of A Promise Lost
Soundtrack OST 1OST 2Parallel HeartsMazeWatashi wo MitsuketeEverytime you kissed me
Character Songs Swear to...Kinjirareta AsobiTruth
Calendars 20102011201220132014
Extra Pandora HearchuMochizuki's MusingsTimelineReal-World References
Author Jun Mochizuki
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