Mathias Vogel
| Mathias Vogel | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Died | 2013 Yamatai | |
| Occupation | Priest of the Scavengers, calls himself "a teacher by trade" | |
| Game(s) | Tomb Raider (2013) | |
| Movie(s) | Tomb Raider (2018) | |
| Actor | Walton Goggins | |
| Voice | Robert Craighead | |
Father Mathias Vogel is a character in the reboot game Tomb Raider (2013). He also appears in the reboot movie Tomb Raider (2018).
Contents
Life
Plane Crash to Yamatai in 1982
June 1982
Some time in June 1982 a plane crashes to Yamatai, and among the survivors is a man named Mathias. He and the other survivors try to escape the island, but the mysterious storms destroys their lifeboat killing and severely injuring some of the survivors. As the survivors start to panic about their hopeless situation, they look to Mathias for a plan. He indeed has one, but it doesn't include the others. Mathias sees them as "weak and stupid... a liability in this place." So, he suggests that they make another attempt to escape, which is a complete suicide.[1]
September 1982
As the rest of the survivors of the plane crash die while trying to escape with their makeshift boat, Mathias is alone on Yamatai. He observed the mysterious storm that destroyed the others' boat carefully, sensing something odd in them: "it didn't seem random. I sensed... emotion, something deliberate." Mathias realises that if he ever wishes to escape the island, he must understand the phenomenon of the storms. "Now my real work begins."[2]
Later Mathias has done some research on Yamatai, and he has discovered that there are many mysteries on the island. He starts to make a plan: first he needs to understand what has actually happened on Yamatai, and for that he needs time and room. Mathias has discovered how the foremost of all the island's mysteries are the ruins of an ancient Japanese Empire... and a Sun Queen. He understands that somehow "it all started with her".[3]
Living on Yamatai
October 1990
In 1990 Mathias realizes that in order to move forward with his plan, he needs to completely control Yamatai. And for that he needs a group of loyal followers. An idea of forming the Solarii is born.[4]
October 1994
Four years after the initial idea of forming a group of loyal followers, Mathias has got exactly the men he needs to begin building the Solarii brotherhood. The men are strong of body, weak of will and they are willing to serve Mathias, and through Mathias they serve the Sun Queen. Somehow Mathias has started to believe that the Sun Queen is showing him the way - she always has showed him the way. Mathias is determined to grow the Solarii brotherhood, and make the group more organised by drafting laws and creating a code for them to live by.[5]
January 1997
Mathias has discovered everything he needs to move forward with his plan and the Solarii has grown strong in number. He decides that they should move inland and build their city around an old palace. At that location they can defend themselves from the Oni and Mathias can access all areas of Yamatai swiftly. Mathias has discovered what - or who - is the key to escaping Yamatai. "It may take years but I will find her."[6]
June 2011
As the important events of 2013 come closer day by day, year by year, Mathias starts to hear the Sun Queen's whispers in his sleep. The Sun Queen is urging him on, and Mathias senses that it will not take long before "the one" arrives. The Solarii toil in Sun Queen's name, "building a city from all that she has brought to the island, torturing and sacrificing in her name". Mathias feels that not only he longs for escape from the island, but all of what is on Yamatai and around him: "the wrecks, bodies, and squalor." He believes that if he is able to bring back the Sun Queen, it all will vanish in an instant "and like the sun rising anew, she will bathe all the land and seas with her light, burning away everything." Mathias would then "emerge from this scorched earth... reborn and pure".[7]
Endurance Shipwreck in 2013
The moment Mathias and the Solarii have been waiting for for ages finally arrives in 2013, when the Endurance is shipwrecked on Yamatai, bringing completely new survivors there. Among the survivors there's a very special woman, the one.
Lara meets Mathias while looking for Samantha Nishimura from whom she became separated during or shortly after the Endurance's ship wreck.
At first he seems friendly, he shares his food and fire with Sam and claims to be "a teacher by trade" while calling the scavengers "those savages". But his friendliness is only a pretext to get more information from Sam and Lara. As soon as Lara wants to go and find Captain Roth he grabs Sam from behind holding a knife to her throat and kidnapping her. Lara is unable to help her friend as she gets stuck in a bear trap.
Mathias is a calm and calculating character. He seems somewhat intelligent, but nonetheless brutal. In the beginning it is not clear what his interests in Sam are, but he mutters "we waited so long, we must be sure" when he grabs her, indicating some kind of mystery surrounding Sam.
When overhearing a conversation between two of the scavengers, Lara is able to learn that Mathias seems to be some kind of priest and is responsible for at least some of the ritualistic sacrifices.[8]
Eventually it is revealed that Mathias needs Sam to fulfil the Ritual that was corrupted ages ago, resulting in the soul of Sun Queen Himiko to be trapped in a decaying body, causing all the mysterious storms. Mathias wants Sam to become the next vessel for Himiko's soul.
Characterisation
Mathias is driven insane by the time he has spent on the island, trying to figure out the secrets of Yamatai and the Sun Queen. Eventually he will stop at nothing to fulfil his plan, to escape the island.
Enemies
As Mathias reveals his true nature by kidnapping Samantha, he and his Solarii become enemies of Lara Croft - and vice versa.
As Opponent
Mathias is fought against in the very end of Tomb Raider (2013) during an interactive cutscene. Lara arrives just in time to the Chamber of the Sun where Himiko's soul is transferring into Sam. Lara is about to shoot a Fire Arrow at the remains of Himiko, but Mathias stops her by shooting at her.
Lara and Mathias fight, and Lara first shoots him with a pistol, then hits him with a Climbing Axe. They battle on the ground, and Lara pushes him further away, taking his pistol and shooting him in the arm in the process. Lara picks up another pistol from the ground - and with these pistols she keeps shooting at Mathias until he falls of the edge of the Chamber of the Sun to the depths.
See Also
- The cult created by Mathias
- The Sun Queen, whose soul Mathias was about to transfer into Samantha Nishimura
- Member of the Endurance's crew, taken hostage by Mathias
Gallery
Face close-up
Mathias holding Samantha hostage
Character model
References
- ↑ In-game document Stranded
- ↑ In-game document Alone
- ↑ In-game document Research
- ↑ In-game document: The Solarii
- ↑ In-game document Belief.
- ↑ In-game document Obsession.
- ↑ In-game document Lost
- ↑ play3 Germany Issue 69
