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"Revenge is a dish best served cold... and screaming!" — Gnarl

The Dark Crusade of the Third Overlord was a major conflict occurred during the events of Overlord; a punitive expedition undertaken by the Third Overlord to punish the Seven Heroes for killing his predecessor, the Second Overlord, during the Crusade of the Seven Heroes. The conflict ended with the deaths of five members of the heroes' group, the imprisonment of a sixth one, and the conquest of all the territories of the heroes by the Third Overlord. The direct consequence of this war was the return of the Second Overlord, who was possessing the reanimated body of the seventh hero, the Wizard, and the beginning of the infamous Minion Civil War.

Prelude[]

In the distant past, the world was ruled by a single undisputed sovereign, the Second Overlord, a man whose wickedness and cruelty was legendary among all peoples and races of the land. Such was his evilness that his subjects could no longer suffer his dark dominion over them and thus they decided to rebel against his rule in order to overthrow his power. The one who started the rebellion was a man of extraordinary magical abilities simply known as the Wizard. The Wizard traveled between various kingdoms and regions of the world, seeking valiant warriors and adventurers willing to join his crusade against evil and rebuild their world anew, based on healthy principles and moral beliefs that guarantee the welfare of the population and not its oppression.

Finally he found six people willing to follow him:

Together these seven prodigious warriors formed the legendary brotherhood known as "The Seven Heroes", the only known organisation/group ever formed in the history of the world to hold members of each of the sapient races within it. During the course of their adventure they also met an eighth person willing to join their group, a human champion of great physical strength and command ability, but is not known much about him.

Together the seven heroes freed all the Overlord's domains from his control through many epic clashes and battles. The climax of the conflict occurred in the Dark Tower, the Overlord's seat of power, where they battled fiercely against the minion horde and finally made it to the throne room, where the Overlord was cornered. Eighth Hero then grabbed the Second Overlord and jumped off the Tower with him. The only thing he succeeded in doing that was incapacitating himself for a long period of time and giving the Second Overlord a chance to escape by possessing the Wizard when he inspected his corpse. He was then left for dead by the other heroes except for Oberon, the Elven Hero, who wanted to save him, or at least recover his corpse to give him a proper burial since he fought at their side. Unfortunately, Sir William, the paladin, declared it was not necessary since they had vanquished the evil and that their friend had 'earned his rest'. Kahn agreed, desiring to scavenge everything they could and flee.

After the Dark Tower was plundered of its riches by the Seven Heroes and left as a crumbling ruin, Gnarl took matters into his own hands: discovering that the Eighth Hero was still alive, he saw a potential successor and had the minions revive him by putting him into a sarcophagus in the Crypt in the Dark Tower's foundations. After some years, when he was awakened and crowned as the Third Overlord, Gnarl told him how his predecessor was killed by the Seven Heroes to give him a desire for revenge, and set his course to rebuild the Dark Tower and reconquer his old domains.

Mellow Hills Campaign[]

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The Third Overlord attacking the Slave Camp

In order to win back the lost domains of his predecessor, the Third Overlord needed first of all a powerful artifact known as the Tower Heart, a magical teleporting device capable of transporting him to distant places in a very short time. Unfortunately it was looted off from its original location, and the Overlord went to the Mellow Hills to take it back, and a much needed crane, since the once mighty tower was reduced to a crumbling ruin.

The Heroes, in their celebration of defeating the Second Overlord, had become increasingly corrupt and self-indulgent, believing that being a Hero makes them better than other people. Melvin the Small, now known as Melvin Underbelly, indulged in the sin of gluttony, and enslaved the residents of Spree to work in his kitchens. Once the Overlord found the Tower Heart and took it back from the Halflings, he discovered Spree and the Steel Smelter, which was blocked by flame walls powered by the Red Minions, so he decides to raid Melvin's work camp to save Spree's Citizens and captured a crane to start the rebuilding of the Dark Tower. The Overlord then proceeded to raid the Halfling Homes to retrieve Spree's food, either keeping it or giving it to the peasants. In the process he saves the Reds in Melvin's Kitchen and kills Melvin, dispatching a large number of Halflings in the process and retrieving the Reds' Hive. The villagers of Spree either viewed the Overlord as a hero or feared tyrant, depending on the actions he took.

Heaven's Peak Campaign[]

When the nearby Castle Spree came under attack by Ruborian Desert raiders, the Overlord investigated the matter further. Once there he met Rose, who was harboring refugees from Heaven's Peak. Apparently the city had fallen under some terrible plague. After clearing the castle of the mysterious invaders, Rose wanted to come to his tower and asks him to check out the plague, not because she cared if people died, but if the plague managed to reach other areas there would be great chaos. He then head off toward the city. In order to enter he must find the Blues first, they are in the outskirts of the town separated from the refugee camp and guarded by a succubus, the first the Overlord will face.

The plague was a terrible affliction turning people into zombies, the indirect result of the actions of Sir William the Black, who indulged in the sin of lust. Apparently unsatisfied with mortal women and tired of denying himself the pleasures of life, Sir William summoned a Succubus Queen for his pleasures, but unbeknownst to him the Queen had infected a majority of the town's population. After stomping out the Queen to end the plague, the Overlord moved on to crush Sir William.

In order to get some extra help to defeat Sir William, the Overlord went to Heaven's Peak Temple, where the mysterious group of magic-users known as the Silent Order resides. As the pestilence is still very active through all the city, the Silent Order has entrenched itself inside the building, refusing anyone to enter. The Third Overlord broke through, and attacked the white priests and their fallen knights. Once soundly defeated, they accepted the Third Overlord as their new god and offered him their help.

The Overlord then discovered Sir William's fiancée and Rose's sister, Velvet, who attempted to seduce the Overlord into taking her back with him, resulting in the player having to choose which mistress to bring back to his Tower.

Evernight Forest Campaign[]

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The minions facing The Skulls and a Unicorn.

Seeking to expand his territory, the Third Overlord explored Evernight Forest, discovering the once verdant land had transformed into a dank, dark place of misery due to Oberon's tree draining energy from the forest. Dwarven invaders from the other side of the forest once came into the land seeking riches, and a war with the Elves ensued. Oberon Greenhaze, another one of the Seven Heroes, refused to fight and indulged in the sin of sloth. Nature itself began to grow around Oberon, transfiguring him into a large tree with magical properties. Eventually, creatures from Oberon's nightmares took physical form, driving out the invaders and leaving Evernight dangerous for the unwary. Cutting the roots of Oberon's tree to weaken the magical barrier protecting him, each root destroyed allow access to the next. During this period of time the Overlord finds the Greens. This must be done in parallel to Heavens Peak as the Blues are required to destroy one of the roots. The Overlord took the fight to Oberon. He showed no mercy and killed him, 'freeing him from his torment' and paving the way into the Golden Hills.

Golden Hills Campaign[]

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The minions facing the dwarfs and a Rock Giant.

Despite the Dwarves having been driven out by Oberon nightmare creatures, they still managed to make off with many spoils of war, and enslaved the elves that survived. Seemingly, the war had originally been launched by Goldo Golderson, an ex-Hero indulging in the sin of greed. Plundering the mines and fortresses of the Golden Hills, the Overlord fought his way to Goldo himself, and his war 'pet', Rollie. While tenacious, Goldo fell to his might.

However, the fight had weakened the structure of the cavern they were in, and the threat of a collapse was immediate. Aside from Goldo's horde of treasure, the supposedly "last" female Elves were also stashed in the cave. Torn between untold treasures and the potential extinction of an entire race, the Overlord was forced to choose between taking the gold or saving the female elves.

In Overlord II the Elves are still present, implying the Overlord chose to save the females. On the other hand it could be an entirely different sect of elves, since the Evernight elves were depressed and grumpy and the Elven soldiers of the sanctuaries were quite positive and hippie-like. The difference between the Forest in both games supports this, in Overlord II it resembles more a tropical jungle.

Ruborian Desert Campaign[]

The Overlord set his eyes on one last land, the Ruborian Desert. Though initially seeming like a wasteland with little value, it was home to the Ruborian Desert raiders and their leader, Jewel the Thief, the corrupted Hero of Envy. When Jewel is aware of the Overlord's presence, she completely avoided a confrontation and relentlessly sent her men after him. Using brains instead of brute force, the Overlord tricked Jewel into escaping straight into a Tower Portal, teleporting her to the Dark Tower where she was captured and held prisoner.

The Wrath of Kahn[]

Jewel's boyfriend, Kahn the Warrior, the corrupted Hero of Wrath, was enraged at the capture of his beloved and attacked Spree in retaliation. When the Overlord goes to stop him, he was led into a trap by his subjects, and finds out that Kahn has already moved on to Heaven's Peak. The Overlord defeated the opposition, and is left to choose to either forgive or punish his subjects for their cowardice.

At Heaven's Peak, the Overlord faced a taxing challenge in bringing Kahn down, who had already destroyed most of the city. Though the battle is arduous, the Overlord was successful in destroying him. Gnarl then informs the Overlord that his presence in the Tower was required immediately.

Final Confrontation between the Overlords[]

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The Minion Civil War.

At the Dark Tower, the Overlord came face to face with Wizard, the seventh and final Hero... only it is not the Wizard at all, just his body. The current soul residing in it is none other than the Second Overlord, who, at the apex of his defeat, transferred his soul into the Wizard's body then snuffed his soul out of existence. Pretending to be the Wizard, the old Overlord manipulated the remaining Heroes into becoming self-centered and had masterly spread chaos on a scale never seen before. In the meantime he had ordered Gnarl to make the Eighth Hero into an Overlord so he could do the hard work of gathering the scattered Tower items, repair the Tower and dispose of the now expendable Heroes, essentially restoring everything to the way things were before his attempted assassination. In this way the Second Overlord would turn defeat into ultimate victory, and he showed great pride in how he had manipulated everyone.

However the Third Overlord resisted, not prepared to let everything he worked for be usurped. This conflict between two Overlords resulted in the brutal "Minion Civil War", taking place within the Minion Spawning Pits. Though the two sides seemed equal in power and command of minions, ultimately the Third Overlord prevailed, finally achieving the status he strived for.

Aftermath[]

If the player went more to the evil path, the ending slides showed the Overlord rising in power, leading to his true evil potential, killing and destroying everything without mercy to become 'evil incarnate', or the will of evil personified as his power increases dramatically, thanks to the Tower Heart.

If the player went more to the 'good' path, the ending slides showed the overlord gaining praise from citizens, his minions multiplying, and evil becoming part of the life.

Gallery[]

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