Ofistoimons are a light-based beings which originate from a unique non-spatial singularity. They exist within Earth-21.
Appearance
The Ofistoimons exist as three möbius strips of light which rotate in a sphere shape around a glowing orb, generally in different shades of red, yellow and green. When on a landmass, or being affected by a force such as gravity, they form bodies out of nearby resources, such as sand or concrete, into a shape which resembles that of a serpent, but varies based on the abundance of resources and the gravity of that planet.
Biology
The Ofistoimons live within a non-spatial singularity, in which the usual laws of physics do not exist. They all exist within what is both a single point in space and every point in space, both a beginning and an end, and sustain themselves using the time's unique physiology. Outside of this point, they must near-constantly feed on temporal energy to keep their bodies stable. Their method of doing so will be outlined in their Powers section.
In terms of personality, the usual Ofistoimon is closer inclined to trickery and evil, especially when outside of their usual time, and will attempt to influence any nearby entity to their own goals.
Powers and Abilities
The main ability of the Ofistoimons is to create a "Loop Summon". They describe this ability to their victim as the ability to summon an alternate future versions of them to assist in combat or other tasks, and will then merge with the present self to dissipate.
In reality, this "Loop Summon" is the actual future version of the victim, and their summon establishes two things. First, it anchors the victim to their specific timeline, meaning that they will have to become the future version they witness as compared to others' futures having multiple possibilities. Second, it creates an infinite loop, where the victim will live to the point of their future self, be summoned to their past, merge with their past self, live until they're summoned back, merge with their past self, live until they're summoned back, merge with their past self, live until they're summoned back, merge with their past self, live until they're summoned back, merge-- so on.
This infinite loop is a source of great temporal energy, which the Ofistoimons feed off of. The loop will essentially last forever unless the Ofistoimon cancels it themselves, or too much distress is applied to them. For Matrix users, the loop ends when the transformation does, and therefore they cannot reach too far into the future.
Weaknesses
If the 'second skin' an Ofistoimon forms out of natural resources is made of weak material (such as sand), it can be destroyed easily and leave the Ofistoimon defenseless.
If the victim knows how the Ofistoimon's abilities work, and can prevent the merge in some form and/or bring the future self back to their own time, the loop will be negated.
Matrix users cannot make loops very long (i.e. bring summons from too far in the victim's future) due to their time limit.
History
A unique occurrence in all of the universe, the Ofistoimon's very existence are unknown to many. A side effect of the massive energy release of the Big Bang, and possibly a remnant of what was before, their existence began in their own singularity and, due to their unique experience of time, subsequently ended. The shortage of temporal energy at the end of their existence - which was also, but not, their beginning - was thought to be the cause of their demise, and as such a few select individuals were released from the singularity and finally took physical forms, leaving to gather energy.
However, they soon found that temporal energy was not an abundance in the normal universe, and as such were quickly turned to deception. They used their unique potential to manipulate the timestream, and began to trick beings into infinite loops, which gave them the energy they needed. They would return to their singularity, and instantly (from the view of any observer) return to gather more.
Because of this, only one Ofistoimon exists at any one time, named by observers as the "Trickster", although this is usually many different Ofistoimons. Their existence is considered a "miracle" by some, and holy by others, but none have been able to properly enter the singularity, nor figure out how to replicate it.
Notable Ofistoimons
- The Trickster (designation given to any Ofistoimon outside their singularity)
Trivia
- The species were based entirely around the concept of the "Ouroboros", a snake biting its own tail in a loop and a symbol of infinity and eternal reccurance.
- "Ofistoimon" roughly translates to "Snake Pit" from Ancient Greek.