Gustav (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

Gustav
Species:	Martian
Affiliated with:	Faction Paradox, Family of the Shadow Spire
Place of origin:	Mars
First appearance:	Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Appearances:	PROSE: Going Once, Going Twice

Brother Gustav was a seven-foot-tall Martian who was part of the Family of the Shadow Spire, a splinter of Faction Paradox in the era following the Eleven-Day Empire's demise.

Biography

Gustav grew up with many siblings in a nest in one of his people's hives. When thinking of his early life, he would remember swords, rituals, and "clans gathering in an ocean of green armour". He was raised in the Martian religion which worshipped the Osirians as their gods, and, accordingly, dreamt of one day following Ra beyond the horizon to battle Apep. He eventually lost his faith, however.

Gustav joined the Faction after Mars was caught in the War in Heaven and put in a state of constant flux by the time war between Cousin Eliza and Sutekh, the Enemy's overwriting narrative, and Great House experiments. He hoped to ensure his people's history survived by the Faction's ways. (PROSE: Going Once, Going Twice)

Following following the destruction of the Eleven-Day Empire, (PROSE: The Story So Far...) Gustav was among the members of the Faction who retreated to Auteur's Shadow Spire, becoming like a brother to Intrepid and Kifah. On one occasion when the three were sharing a fire outside the Spire, they witnessed Life's angels announcing the Armistice. (PROSE: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

After being sent to the First Auction in Heaven by Auteur, Mother and Father, Gustav ended up helping Kifah rescue Intrepid from the bubble of frozen time in which he had become trapped at the Battle of Cratosi Fields, thus directly going against Mother and Father's orders. He eventually got his wish to battle Apep, briefly becoming an incarnation of all of Mars's history as he pitted his biodata against Apep's; this helped solidify his reality. The three rebellious Faction-members escaped Kratoam aboard Cortalian's timeship just before it was destroyed completely by Apep's death-throes; by that point, Auteur had killed Mother and Father only to be destroyed himself. (PROSE: Going Once, Going Twice)

Behind the scenes

• At several point, Gustav's species of Martian is implied to be the Ice Warriors: Gustav is tall and reptilian, inhabits an armour with a red visor, and remembers gatherings of others of his kind as "seas of green". However, as Obverse Books did not possess the license to the Ice Warriors for The Book of the Enemy, this is not made explicit.