Note: His name spelling has some confusion, translators use the 'Xi Tai' form due to translators being unaware of the intended translation. At one point his name is written as 'Horus', but that is a mistranslation. (Horus is another God, who is so far never mentioned in the manhua.)
Set (希太, Xī tài) is a Demon King whose return is awaited by the Followers of Set. His current incarnation went by the persona "Min Xing Yan" (闵星岩, Mǐn xīng yán) until the original persona took over.
Appearance[]
In the past he had long black hair and wore dark attire in contrast to Osiris' lighter attire. He also had long pointy ears like Osiris had and Isis currently has. He also had horns on his head.
In present day, Set often appears with Vampire familiars surrounding him. A few strand of his hair is allowed to grow long again though he mostly has Min Xing Yan's hairstyle and only strands of hair are long. He often wears a black cape that covers much of his body.
Min Xing Yan described him to have a devilish appearance.
Personality[]
Set is described as being as two minds fighting over one soul.
Min Xing Yan is considered as his human personality, the one he had before he could complete his transformation into the Demon King. Set, in his natural form, is the stronger persona and eventually wins control over their shared soul and body for this reason. Deceitful and cruel, Set is very much the polar opposite of Min Xing Yan. However, since mortals do feel such things, as the storyline progresses, Set begins to wonder if Min Xing Yan is truly dead after doing several things he couldn't explain why he had done.
Due to his status of being on par with deities, the concept of sin and venture, ideals valued by mortals, are foreign concepts to him as they are to others like Isis. As such, he does not feel true emotion at all like a mortal does.
One such example of this appeared later on in the storyline when he is discussing how to become stronger. During his time trying to force Yue Jian to do stuff against her will he speaks about the consumption of food and even the Vampires lust for blood. He notes that everything is designed to eat something else in order to survive, from the consumption of plants to animals. To draw a line on what can and can't be eaten therefore is seen by him as a form of hypocrisy, one aimed souly to make oneself feel better then they are and to make them seem like they have a moral highground. Who gets to eat is something decided by strength, therefore who eats whom is a example of a show of strength to him.
Relationships[]
Min Xing Yan[]
They shared the same body for some time. Min XIng Yan ruled in the daylight, but after midnight, it was Set's time. For a long time he let him alone, though Min Xing Yan claimed him to be a devil who whispered sinful thoughts to him. But when his relationship with Yue Jian started to get stronger Set was not content with ruling at night. They started to war with each other. Set also helped them to realize who he is, and also tried to nudge him to acknowledge his place in the world, and helped him understand his own feelings for Yue Jian. Later, when their war was coming to it's end, Set threathened him to make him submit claiming that he was already patient enough with him, yet he made a promise to embrace Yue Jian instead of him. Set cried when Min Xing Yan's personality faded, showing that he was sorry over his loss.
Yue Jian[]
Min Xing Yan took a liking to Yue Jian, Set, however, has a very different relationship with her. He heals Yue Jian only to keep her alive long enough for Isis to get her body and has no pleasure in healing her. He has patience, he believes fate will turn in his favour eventually and knows that mortals have their limits. For this reason, he sees little in Yue Jian and was more annoyed by her insistence that Min Xing Yan still lives then he cares for her existence at all. And if not for her purpose in regards to Isis, he would likely have had little interest in her at all. In the end he results in tricking her using he relationship with Min Xing Yan by pretending to be him to get his way and Isis tries to have him confess that he only took her out of the two girls because of how close she was to him as Min Xing Yan.
Osiris[]
When Osiris played with Isis (fiance and sister of Osiris), they met with the young Set who ran away from his Clan. They took him in and they became friends. He overheard one of their discussions and saw it when Isis was bitten by Set.
Later something happened, that made them into enemies. They fought and Osiris won. He sealed Set's power into the Forbidden Sphere, made sure it was protected well by a curse. Set after that schemed to kill him successfully, but after he was gone, he slowly faded away, too.
Isis[]
He met her when she was playing with Osiris, and he ran away from his Clan. They took him in, and he became frineds with them. He was close to Isis, and at one occassion he bitten her to show her what he really is.
At present, Isis relies on him to make Yue Jian into a proper vessel for herself, to get back everything she lost.
Abilities[]
Vampirism[]
Set can create 'Sacrificial Lambs', Vampires who are blood thirsty demons in order to find and gather blood for himself. He then either controls or kills them in order to gain access to their blood to grow stronger.
However, the blood alone does not make him as powerful as he should be.
He is shown to be able to control Xue Yan infected individuals and has healing powers. He also grew wings at one point. He has access to many ways of healing people, including Min Xing Yan's own body.
It is mentioned that the contents of Poison Bottle have potential to impact him. However, as shown with Lilla's attempt to get the contents of the Bottle into him, Set is not a fool.
Godhood[]
When he became a god, he had to pay an equal price for it - for him, it meant that he can only be a Vampire in his entire life, and be controlled by his Clan.
The Giovanni Clan fortune teller Ino Brad describes his power as "like fire" and is an opposing power to Osiris' own power, described as "like ice" by her. As such the two powers do not get along when inside someone else.
Access to Set's true power, of which he desires, was split among the Demon Clan Bloodlines hidden in the Forbidden Sphere and accessible only the Sacred Weapon of the Lasombra Clan, Devil Key. When he finally manages to get to the Forbidden Sphere, he recovers only 3/5 of his overall power with Fan Le Lao taking the rest. Even without his full power, he is more powerful then any Vampire. At full power, his strength makes him on par with deities.
History[]
Happier Times[]
According to Ge Chen, the Shards of Osiris contain "sad memories" and "happy memories". When talking about the "happy memories" it seems at one stage it was clear the trio of Osiris, Isis and Set when they were younger were part of the "happy memories".[1]
The Duel with a God[]
The two Gods fight
In the distant past he fought the Egyptian God of the Underworld Osiris. The fight ended with most of his powers sealed away in a Sphere of Vampire bloodlines. With most of his powers gone, he still schemed revenge against Osiris and have him killed, but eventually lost his spirit and fall into a eternal slumber.[2] It was foretold he would be reborn first as a human and eventually regain his strength.[3]
The Followers of Set[]
Set awakens from his dream of Yue Jian
He is discovered by Yue Jian asleep when Ge Chen's group invade the HQ of the Followers of Set.[4] While she is happy to have found him, when the group catches up to her, Ge Chen denies knowing who he is and they leave.[5]
After she departs, he wakes up and comments on having a dream on her again.[6]
The Forbidden Sphere[]
Inside the HQ of the followers of Set, Min Xing Yan fights for control of his shared body with Set. Set constantly whispers gentle words to him with dark intentions. He remembers his time with Yue Jian. He screams in agony, as he has done for days as he tries to resist Set to the bitter end. The High Priest suspects someone has changed him, but his resistance will only lead to torture both mentally and physically for him. Min Xing Yan states he has a dream of Yue Jian every night where he is bound in chains and she comes to free him.
Inside their shared head, he is confronted by Set who states that it is foolish to keep up this act. Set has lost all patience with him and tries to strike a deal. He rejects Set's deal and attempts to commit suicide.[7]
Jalousie prevents the suicide and Min Xing Yan, Set mocks his attempt to protect Yue Jian. He tells Min Xing Yan even if he had succeeded, he would only heal his body. He hugs Min Xing Yan and he dies telling him he will hug on his behalf, Min Xing Yan realises, however, to his horror as he disappear what danger she is in. After Min Xing Yan dies, Set cries for the loss of this side of him.
Now in control of the body, he turns his attention to Jalousie and tells her it is time for her to complete her last valuable act for him. He then sucks her blood dry, killing her in the process. He realises that no matter how much blood he drinks he cannot ever regain his powers and turns to focus on Osiris and Isis and realises he must to go the Forbidden Sphere to get his powers back.[8]
Set appears
At the Forbidden Sphere, the Sabbat and Camarilla fight it out for his power. A loud explosion catches their attention, they turn to see Set himself has appeared to reclaim his power. Lilla tries to warn Ge Chen as Set strikes him and Fan Le Lao watches as Ge Chen attempts to teleport him away.[9]
As the fight continues the next stage of the unlock occurs and he is attacked by Lilla. She tries to inject into him the contants of the Poison Bottle she has swallowed but he strikes her away to the horror of Ge Chen, Fraser and Yue Jian. He surrounds her in evil spirits that slowly strike at her and gives them a choice of giving up his power or saving her. Yue Jian rushes forward with her sisters weapon to attack him. She demands he give her back Min Xing Yan.[10]
When the power is finally released, Set stands close enough to retrieve his power and is awarded 3/5 of it. He turns to Fan Le Lao, who stood close enough to receive the other 2/5. When Fan Le Lao asks if he is up for fighting, Set decides it is not worth continuing and draws his attention to Yue Jian. Ge Chen tries to stop him, Set states the fact he saved her life instead of trying to gain his power and has lost the battle. He takes her as a helpless Ge Chen is unable to do anything to prevent it.[11]
Set's prisoner[]
A few weeks after the battle at the Forbidden Sphere, Isis appears physically before Set. She asks him if he brought 'that girl' to which he gleefully replies that she is being held in the dungeon. She then worriedly asks him to hurry up and added that she will not be able to keep up for too long. Set caresses her and affectionately tells her not to worry and promises that he will not let anything happen to her.[11]
When she awakens several weeks later she is greeted by Set who she at first mistakes for Min Xing Yan. He then introduces her formally to Isis who spoke to her when she entered the Ice Coffin. Yue Jian demands to know her fate, though only get a confirmation they have no plans to kill her. Set then explains Ge Chen likely found out everything from Corpse Hand on Min Xing Yan's fate, but protected her by not telling her. He explains that her only use right now of Mei Yue Yin is as a power up, which is Set's only current interest in her and she does not know how to use it fully.
Then, much to his annoyance she begins to call for Min Xing Yan. He releases her then hugs her. He bares his fangs and loud laughter fills the air as Isis watches him.[12]
Yue Jian awakens to come face to face with a cage of creatures. She reconigises Wu Sha among them as they reach out trying to get her flesh. Set is surprised to see she remembers the classmates of her old school and explains they were transformed by the power of the Rotting Bracelet into creatures who only crave flesh and blood, making them less then Vampires.
He explains she is too weak and must consume their flesh to become strong enough to hold Isis. When she refuses to eat them, he tosses her to the creatures to be devoured.
Just before death, he apparently saves her so he can repeat this again when she recovers.[13]
Yue Jian continues fighting. She finally collapses and is healed by Set, she tries to appeal to Min Xing Yan again, but he insists it won't work. He states if she co-operates when Isis has her body he will consider sparing her friends.[14]
Yue Jian Falls[]
As time passes by, Isis is frustrated and confused by Yue Jian's stubbornness as her wounds are taking longer to heal, they discuss things as she sleeps. She speaks out about how she feels about her clones and question why Set didn't grab both girls and instead grabs only one.
When she wakes up, she sees Min Xing Yan for the first time in a long time. She is glad to see him having defeated Set, but he refuses to run away as he explains Set is still alive. He questions her abilities towards the future. He takes her somewhere and tells her to face the truth.[15]
As Min Xing Yan, he attempts to force Yue Jian to consumed the flesh of the creatures and makes her weapon go from her hand. She continues to protest and sees through his trick. He then lectures her on his views of food and why she must eat, while mocking her moral and righteous highground she has taken to defend herself as a form of hypocrisy.[16]
It is revealed Yue Jian had given up and feasted on the creatures' blood, by this point she had also stopped resisting it at completely. This pleases him.[17]
Yue Jian's strength rises explosively after she starts drinking blood, but to be an ideal vessel, she needs to learn to handle this power. Set takes her out to fight with strange creatures, forbiding her from resting unless she defeats them all.[18]
Etymology[]
There are some unique issues with his name compared to all other characters in the comic.
The name is actually mostly an attempt to translate the word "Setite" into Chinese resulting in "Xi Tai" (希太). "Se" can become "Xi" (希) and "tite" can become "Tai" (太) when transferring the name into Chinese via phonetics matching. When English translators translate the name back into English, they are mostly unaware of the situation with the name and what its referencing and miss the true translation. Hence why he has been mostly called "Xi Tai" in translation and not "Setite". However, since the term is found only in Vampire; the Masquerade therefore knowledge of the franchise would be required to know this at all.
"Setite" a common word associated with the VtM version of the clan in-universe. Members of the clan are often called "Setites" and their blood magic "Setite Sorcery". The word "Setite" therefore has a very broad meaning. Because of this, to avoid confusion the wiki has resulted to using "Set" for the character.
Technically, "tite" in "Setite" is used to mean "immediately from", so the full name means "immediately from Set" (in other words "descended from Set"). When VS borrowed the names of the clans from VtM for its storyline, it chose to merge the name of "Set" with his clan hence why "Xi Tai" appears as the given name of both. So in short, Set can't be a Setite himself because he is Set, the one all members of the clan are descended from. So the VS version of the character has some etymology issues with his name.
Chinese is a language which text variation can occur for the same sounds, and changing the symbols used can change certain meanings of words entirely. The actual combination of "Xi Tai" used in VS results in the meaning of "Hope, too much" (in standardised English it would likely be "too much hope") when translated.
Trivia[]
- He is most likely based on the character of Set from Vampire: The Masquerade, owed to him sharing a number of storylines from the VtM franchise from the character.
- In VtM, Set's return is a part of one of the signs of Gehenna (Sign Eight – The Cracking of the World), marking the end of all Vampire kind. The story goes that during the event the Antediluvians will return and swallow up their descendants, bringing about the end of the world in the process. Set, being a 3rd generation Vampire, is among their ranks and would be set to return during this event. Until then he is believed to be in Torpor. These Vampires, either way, were said to have had God-like power over life and death.
- Likewise before entering Torpor Set did indeed fight against Osiris and lost, despite him being a 4th generation Vampire and therefore among the weaker Methuselah group of Vampires. Set took his revenge by cutting up Osiris and scattering his body around the world, leaving Isis to have to gather the pieces and resemble him. Set was also, as with Vampire Sphere, unable to regain his lost position of power and status after his defeat at Osiris. With Set gone, after Osiris was resembled he took up Set's old position as King of the Underworld.. His loss to Osiris is quite remarkable, as the antediluvians have all disciplines that their clan can learn, but are set automatically at level 10, the highest that they can be. At this level, the abilities of the Vampire are restricted only by the Game Master's creativity with the Vampires given set of disciplines.
- Other then other 3rd generation Vampires, the only other Vampire who can best him is Cain himself within VtM, making him one of the VtMs strongest vampires.
- One of the concepts of the VtM franchise was controlling "the beast" that lies within every Vampire waiting to come out at a moments notice. This concept was also raises when Set was trying to take over their body.
Gallery[]
[]
Set & Min Xing Yan[]
References[]
- ↑ Chapter 100
- ↑ Chapter 30
- ↑ Chapter 29
- ↑ Chapter 61
- ↑ Chapter 62
- ↑ Chapter 64
- ↑ Chapter 71
- ↑ Chapter 72
- ↑ Chapter 75
- ↑ Side Chapter 3
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Chapter 78 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "C78" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Chapter 80
- ↑ Chapter 83
- ↑ Chapter 88
- ↑ Chapter 95
- ↑ Chapter 96
- ↑ Chapter 94
- ↑ Chapter 103
| Followers of Set | |
|---|---|
| Leaders | Set |
| misc. characters | Zhen Mi ● Jalousie ● Isis ● High Priest |
| Sacred Weapons | Rotting Bracelet |
| Misc. | Xue Yan ● Sacrificial Lamb |