Long ago a boy on Arturia named Cydbwysedd witnessed a gigantic serpent named Jormungandr burst forth from the ground and devour his village, friends, and family. He hid out in the woods for a while until he encountered the God Sucellus (the Arturian form of Zeus). Sucellus then tested Cydbwysedd: he induced unbelievable hunger in the boy and then sent him out into the woods, where Sucellus had hung a baby white stag in a net on a tree branch (it is considered taboo for Arturians to kill a white stag, even for food). Cydbwysedd resisted the urges of his intense hunger and did not kill the deer, instead taking it as his own and naming it Gwreiddiddol. Gwreiddiddol became the first animal companion. Since Cydbwysedd had passed the test, Sucellus decided that Cydbwysedd was worthy of learning Astral Magic to defeat Jormungandr, who was causing problems galaxy-wide. Sucellus spent years teaching Cydbwysedd Astral Magic. Once Cydbwysedd had mastered all 4 powers of Astral Magic, he charged into battle against Jormungandr, but was quickly defeated and almost killed. Sucellus then decided he would have to risk teaching Cydbwysedd Shadow Magic. After a few years, Cydbwysedd had mastered 3 of the 4 Shadow powers, and was in the process of learning the last one (Shadow water). However, mortal souls can only handle the weight of 7 powers at once, so Cydbwysedd could only use Shadow Water if Sucellus temporarily merged with him for a few minutes to give him a boost (however, Sucellus could only stay merged with him for a few minutes at a time). Once Cydbwysedd had mastered Shadow Magic, he dueled Jormungadr again. Though he lasted longer than last time, he quickly began to get pummeled and was nearly defeated again. However, Sucellus merged with him again, allowing him to hold his own for a while. However, Sucellus had to leave Cydbwysedd again before he could defeat Jormungandr. Thinking quickly, Sucellus painstakingly ripped out half of his own soul and gave it to Sucellus, allowing him to permanently merge with it. Sucellus then easily used Shadow Water to immobilize Jormungandr. Sucellus then gave Cydbwysedd his Lightning Hammer and then returned to Olympia (the home of the Gods). Cydbwysedd whacked Jormungandr on the head with the hammer, knocking the great beast out. Cydbwysedd was now the first Man of Light and Shadow. Sucellus then telepathically told Cydbwysedd that his new duty would be to make sure Jormungandr could never awaken again and to protect the galaxy from any future wars or threats. Cydbwysedd moved Jormungandr's head to the planet of Ryu 108, where he buried it in a vast underground network of tunnels called Nastrond. Cydbwysedd would live out the rest of his days attempting to keep peace and stability in the galaxy, though he would ultimately fail and die on a battlefield on Eaglypt. Because of the immortal soul fragment of Sucellus (which would go on to be called the Shadow Spirit), the Man of Light and Shadow would reincarnate the moment they died. They would be reborn as a baby on another planet in a neverending cycle, with the same duty in mind: master Astral and Shadow Magic and use them to promote peace and balance in the galaxy. This cycle continued until about 3,000 years ago, when Alexandros (then the Man of Light and Shadow) grew drunk with power and The Gods had to rip the Shadow Spirit out of his soul. The Gods hid the spirit in a temple deep in the jungles of Aztlan, hoping that nobody would find it. However, even though most of The Gods were on board with this, The Norns foresaw a future crisis that would threaten The Gods themselves. As a result, they wrote the Prophecy of Two, a last-ditch plan to bring back the Man of Light and Shadow in the event of a crisis. Thousands of years later, that crisis came in the form of Tate, an evil mutant bent on mastering Shadow Magic and using it to rewrite the galaxy on his own terms. On Aztlan around 20 BR, a young girl named Olivia stumbled upon the jar containing the Shadow Spirit, causing her to absorb half of it into her soul. The other half of it was absorbed into Weasel, a newborn on Arturia, born on the exact same spot where Cydbwysedd merged with the Shadow Spirit millennia ago.