Sylens is a major character in the Horizon series, serving as the deuteragonist of the 2017 video game Horizon Zero Dawn and a major character in its 2022 sequel Horizon Forbidden West.
He is a mysterious Banuk researcher and a wanderer, who spent years wandering for answers regarding the fate of the Old Ones and how their life ended. He later helps the Elisabet Sobeck clone known as Aloy finding out her true origins, while hiding his true nature behind his plans, though not without committing questionable acts to get what he wants.
He is voiced by the late Lance Reddick.
Synopsis[]
This section is too long. Visit here for more details: Sylens's Synopsis on the Heroes Wiki.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
Horizon Zero Dawn[]
- Throughout the entire game, despite Sylens' morally ambiguous ways to assist Aloy out, he helps her out in her quest to uncover her origins as being a clone of Elisabet Sobeck, given his moderate knowledge of the Old Ones.
- Sylens went so far in saving Aloy from Helis by overriding three Ravagers, after Aloy defeated the Corrupted Behemoth within the Sun-Ring, thus striking a heavy blow to Helis and the Eclipse, and with Aloy finally subsequently defeating the Eclipse commander in the Battle of the Alight, along with HADES.
- After the Eclipse's defeat, Sylens would soon imprison HADES through a lantern-like device, via his own lance that he gave to Aloy, where he would soon proceed to interrogate the AI regarding Nemesis and Far Zenith.
Horizon Forbidden West[]
- Despite his deceit was soon uncovered by Aloy, Sylens decided to complete his anti-Far Zenith shielding weapon, where he would use it against Verbena Sutter outside of Ninmah Research Lab, with the help of the Sons of Prometheus, and later improved upon it, which later played a significant role when the attack of the Far Zenith base was initiated by Aloy and her group.
- After his plans soon collapsed, following Regalla's defeat and death in the Memorial Grove and with Tilda van der Meer revealing his secret pact with Regalla, Sylens would soon abandon his plan of using the Tenakth as mere fodders against the highly technological Far Zenith army, and sided with Aloy's team.
- During the attack of the Far Zenith base with Aloy's group, Sylens' improved anti-Far Zenith weaponry played a pivotal role in the final battle, which soon stripped all of the Far Zenith survivors of their energy shielding, allowing Aloy and the rest of her team to gain the upper hand against the Zeniths, resulting in the organization's subsequent defeat and collapse.
- Instead of abandoning Earth to Nemesis, in exchange of having the APOLLO archive, Sylens instead opted to stay on Earth to help out Aloy and her allies against the future oncoming threat of the rogue AI to the inhabitants of the new Earth.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- Sylens has far too many corrupting factors to be even considered as NPG-level minor preventions.
- Sylens is mostly known for his grey-zoned morality, as he often switches sides, either between the good side (particularly Aloy) or the bad. Most of the times, he helps Aloy out on her personal quest, but other times he has instances where he temporarily betrays her and sometimes even going so far in luring her to her death making him on and off.
- He is a textbook anti-hero and a heroic criminal, as he is willing to commit morally ambiguous acts, all to benefit his pursuit of searching for knowledge. This includes him committing an act of sacrilege against the Banuk, when he ransacked the Banuk Conclave by pillaging the tribe's spoils for his selfish reasons.
- Sylens has several jerk moments throughout his run, as he is often known for his egocentric and brash personality. This is often common with his interactions towards Aloy.
- He is often known for his unethical and amoral acts, such as using others in his quest, placing little value on empathy and humanity, and focusing more on the cold logic behind his actions.
- Despite being an anti-hero for the majority of the series, as he is mostly an On & Off character, Sylens had shown some villainous acts as an anti-villain, both in the past and the present, especially towards Aloy, all for his obsessive pursuit of knowledge.
- For the most part, Sylens' heroism is mostly for self-serving reasons, who only cares for his quest rather than altruism, as shown in his villainous act to use the Tenakth as attempted fodder to attack Gerard Bieri's base in a suicidal counteroffensive, all for his rather selfish goal to reach the Zenith base and escape Earth through the Odyssey.
Trivia[]
- He, Stanley Pines, Omni-Man, Midnight, and The Man with No Name are the five Inconsistently Admirable characters to be in the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki, Magnificent Baddie Wiki, and Guile Heroes Wiki at the same time.
External Links[]
- Sylens on the Heroes Wiki
- Sylens on the Villains Wiki
- Sylens on the Horizon Wiki
- Sylens on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
- Sylens on the Guile Heroes Wiki
- Sylens on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
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 Inconsistently Admirable
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