Old Deus

The are the first ranked race of the Exceed. They consist of the old gods, who lost their status after The Great War, where Tet became the One True God. They are created and sustained by sentiments, concepts, desires and belief in their existance. For instance, Tet was created by Riku Dola's imagination and represents the concept of Play, while Artosh's creation was driven by people's desire for War. The lack of belief makes the old gods' demise possible if followed up by almost non-existant mortal perils. Artosh disappeared after his death at the hands of the Imanity - Ex-Machina alliance, bringing to pass the end of all wars.

Appearance
The Old Deus appearance can either be similar to a giant like Artosh, or the height of a regular Imanitan. They mainly have a very diverse appearance between each other and may be very colorful.

Strengths
As essentially gods, they are assumed to have absolute rule over all. They can create entire species to their advantage during The Great War soon becoming one of the Exceed. The power of a Old Deus is based on the intensity of their affinity. For example, during the great war, due to the nature of bloodlust and hatred, Artosh was therefore the strongest Old Deus due to his affinity for being God of War. Even at 33% Artosh could match the other gods with ease as stated in Light Novel 6. While most certainly the most powerful Exceed, the Old Deus were technically the second strongest during the Great War in terms of magical ability; only losing out to the very planet itself.

They are beings of immortality and power, and are responsible for creating some of the other Exceed, such as Flugel and Elves. Jibril stated that it would take at least 200 Flügel to challenge a single Old Deus, and even then the chance of losing would be high. According to Izuna, during the wartime, only Flügel and Ex-Machina had ever succeeded in killing a god.

The power of a Old Deus's creation is dependent on the power of the Old Deus. As stated by Azriel, Old Deus Artosh's creation of the closing number of Flugels were said to rival the power of even dragons; as shown by Jibril's felling of a dragonia single handily. It can be assumed by this conversation that the power of a creation is dependant the power of the Old Deus and the number of creations he/she makes. For instance, since Jibril was created during the height of Artosh's power, she was single handily stronger than all previous flugel and her power rivaled even that of a dragonia. This also means that the weaker the Old Deus, the weaker the creation.

Weaknesses
The Old Deus are known to have no obvious weaknesses. One can be killed if they exhaust themselves. Another possible weakness may be that if their concept is not as intense they may become weaker. As when Tet was created, he was the weakest Old Deus due to no one believing in the concept of games.

As stated by Shuvi, all Old Deus were literally born from the world due to the existence of the spirit circuit. This is why, once the spirit circuit was destroyed, all of the gods lost their powers, as well as all other magic users.

Horou, the God of Doubt, doubts her own existence and was close to being wiped from existence if her identity had not been acknowledged by Sora, Shiro and Miko showing that they heavily depend upon faith and belief.

History
The Old Deus were the ones who launched The Great War to fight over the title of the One True God, using their creations as weapons, such as the Flügel, to kill other gods. The gods eventually lost their will to continue warring as they died needlessly without enjoying their lives. Tet emerged above the Old Deus as he was the only god who had abstained from the war, and became the One True God.

List of Known Old Deus

 * , the God of War and Creator of Flügels
 * , the God of the Forge and Creator of Dwarves
 * , the God of Forest and Creator of Elves
 * , God of Play and later the One True God
 * , the God of Doubt and Trust, self-declared Old Deus representative, and creator of the Ex-Machina.

One of the Old Deus uses an arrogant and ornate speech style by stating "Question" before proceeding when conversing with Tet. He was described as an imperfect presence with limited powers. The Old Deus now reside on the moon after the Great War for unknown reasons - possibly as punishment for their relentless bloodlust and warmongering.

Trivia

 * Deus (Latin pronunciation: [ˈdeːʊs]) is Latin for "god" or "deity".

Old Deus Old Deus Old Deus Old Deus Старые Боги

神灵种