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ZoNeSeeK
06-06-2007, 09:10 PM
I've always liked the theme of the Guardians SK wove into the story, and have been wondering about the nature of them.

We only really get a good look into Shardik and Maturin in the DT series and at first both seem to protect their portals in different ways - Shardik in an immense physical sense and Maturin through coercion and mind control - or is this mislead? Perhaps Shardik also possessed similar powers through little statue conduits etc but the infection in his brain prevented this kind of thing from working.

What are your thoughts? What (if any) information is there about the other 10 guardians? Would you like to see more of them in linked books in the future?

B Rag
06-06-2007, 11:05 PM
I certainly would like to see the guardians in future related books. I always got the idea that the sea creature in the Talisman might be the Fish Guardian.

Matt
06-07-2007, 09:28 AM
I would love to see more of the Guardians. In fact, the story leading up to how they were created may play a big part on this site someday.

I like the idea of replacing the magic beams with mechanical ones, also the idea of putting something there to protect the door.

Ruki
06-07-2007, 04:35 PM
I certainly would like to see the guardians in future related books. I always got the idea that the sea creature in the Talisman might be the Fish Guardian.

cool :) i never thought of that before.

sarah
06-08-2007, 02:50 PM
I'm hoping we will learn more from Robin Furth and her little stories at the end of the comics.

VolsToTheWall
06-10-2007, 08:52 PM
I'm hoping we will learn more from Robin Furth and her little stories at the end of the comics.
That would be nice. That would make a great history lesson. I would love to find out more about the guardians, but then again I'm eager for any additional backstory. ;)

Matt
06-11-2007, 08:31 AM
Same here :nana:

I can't wait for the second chapter discussion because it describes the last time Roland left Gilead. Stuff like that is what I love to read or hear.

Letti
06-27-2007, 12:09 PM
And have you ever thought of the animals? I mean... did King choose these very animals? Did they come to his mind one by one and he wrote them down or did he use some help (some mythology maybe)?

Jean
06-27-2007, 09:15 PM
Before we start speculating on the subject, can someone please list all twelve of them?

ZoNeSeeK
06-27-2007, 09:44 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g67LWxk2Sbs !!

VolsToTheWall
06-27-2007, 10:00 PM
Before we start speculating on the subject, can someone please list all twelve of them?

The 12 Guardians:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Bat
Bear (Shardik/Mir)
Dog
Eagle
Elephant
Fish
Hare
Horse
Lion
Rat
Turtle (Maturin)
Wolf

Note: In the original version of The Gunslinger, Walter names a 13th guardian, as he tells Roland that The Dark Tower is guarded by "The Beast". "The Beast" was said to be the originator of all glammer and even more powerful than Maerlyn. Of course this reference to "The Beast" was cut with the arrival of the revised edition of The Gunslinger.

Jean
06-27-2007, 10:01 PM
great, thank you! Are you sure about the bat? Where is he mentioned? And the lion?

VolsToTheWall
06-27-2007, 10:07 PM
great, thank you! Are you sure about the bat? Where is he mentioned? And the lion?

My pleasure Jean. :D
And yes, I am sure of the list, the Bat was mentioned in books 3&4, and it was also on Hambry's Mercantile. Also, the Lion was mentioned in book 7, as the Beamquake was caused by the snapping of the Eagle-Lion Beam.

zadok
12-14-2007, 11:09 AM
I like the idea of replacing the magic beams with mechanical ones, also the idea of putting something there to protect the door.

I don't follow you...do you mean you liked the man-made Beams idea in The Gunslinger? Or the concept?

Matt
12-14-2007, 11:31 AM
I just like the whole idea. The world was filled with magic and that powered the doors, which powered the beams, which powered the Tower.

When that failed, they came up with machines to do the same job. I think that's cool

zadok
12-14-2007, 11:41 AM
I just like the whole idea. The world was filled with magic and that powered the doors, which powered the beams, which powered the Tower.

When that failed, they came up with machines to do the same job. I think that's cool

Yes I agree for sure. I am really hoping there is some story in the future about that whole event. And maybe tell us why there is US Army equipment and Nazi airplanes still intact ousands of years later...

Matt
12-14-2007, 11:52 AM
I think the Nazi stuff was more of the "bleeding" between universes. Kind of an older version of what happened later--or even better, the same reason you hear "Hey Jude" throughout All World

Sai_Rhavan
12-14-2007, 11:58 AM
It's also possible to be like a Bermuda Triangle effect- kind of like in From A Buick 8. That's how I always explained in my own mind how so many trinkets had shown up.

alinda
12-14-2007, 12:19 PM
Some of these animals are used in native American teachings and some of thier traits are mentioned below...



Bear – Bear is the part of the self that needs to retreat into its own space, hibernate and heal itself. Bear totem is comforting and protective. Remember those stories about “Mama Bear” fiercely defending her cubs? Bear is a common animal spirit for mothers.

Butterfly – A bewildered caterpillar emerges from the cocoon transformed into a butterfly. Butterfly stands for our ability to accept the beauty of growth and change in our lives.

Coyote – Coyote is the trickster totem. He created confusion, self-sabotage, humour, and that delightful sensation when you aren’t sure if you’ve gone crazy - or had a breakthrough that is going to change you and your world.

Eagle – Eagle is a profoundly spiritual animal totem, representing wisdom and power on a spiritual dimension.

Hawk – Hawk is the messenger and represents perspective. People who have Hawk as a medicine animal are able to see an issue from all sides and avoid jumping to conclusions.

Horse – Horse represents power: personal power and permission to be oneself. When use of the Spanish horses began by the Native Americans, Horse came to represent power because the advantage the animals gave in hunting and foraging. In a generation where women are still working toward equality, horse is a popular totem.

Snake – Snake is a powerful guide for healers. It carries the ability to transform, like a snake shedding its skin to reveal a renewed body and self. Snake enables shamans to transmute poisons of the body and mind.

Spider – In some traditions, Spider is the creator Goddess who spun the world into being. With her eight legs and gift of weaving, spider is the creative totem of artists, crafters, writers and painters.

Wolf – Wolf is the animal guide of true teachers. Wolves are connected to the moon and feminine energy. They are predatory and define themselves in relation to other people of their “pack” (even a “lone wolf” is defined by her or his distance from the pack). Like Dog totem, Wolf is loyal to family and people they consider their own. Wolf guides are very common today – increasingly so as wolves in the wild become more threatened.

Matt
12-14-2007, 12:21 PM
That's some great stuff Linda, thanks for posting it. :wub:

We were in the hospital when Lily was born and they have it divided up with symbols on the elevators.

Ours was fish. I asked my daughter if she knew what the others were and she said she thought one was bear :o

I was going to fucking flip out if the other were bird and hare but they weren't <_<

CPU
12-14-2007, 12:22 PM
Yeah, I always figured something like the Bermuda Triangle as well (which is a thinny perhaps?). Off the top of my head I don't remember how much time had passed between David Quick's arrival in Roland's world, and the katet's arrival at Lud - and time appears to move differently between the worlds also - But Roland's world had been in it's "moved on" state for a very long time before Quick's arrival (imo).

John Blaze
03-27-2008, 07:00 PM
OK, First off let me say that if I'm right and SK screwed up, this does not diminish my love for The Dark Tower in any way, and it shouldn't for you neither. But here's something I've thought about for awhile, and I started a reread yesterday to see if it's just me. I am now starting The Wastelands.

Let's talk about page 34 on the hardcover edition of The Wastelands.

Design 4 GUARDIAN
Type/Species BEAR
SHARDIK

Made by North Central Positronics.

Ok, So North Central Positronics made a Beam Guardian, code named Shardik, and his job is to protect? The Beam.

Page 75 Paragraph 4

The snake, also designed by NCP, built for maintenance of Shardik.

Then they go to the metal humming box, which I think is explained later, (or maybe I just inferred it?) is a beam generator, a way of helping the natural beams that are weakening.

Help the natural magical beam that is weakening. The Old Ones, they wanted to HELP the Tower, but this stuff was made by NCP?

NCP, whom is a subsidiary of Sombra?

Sombra, whom is the enemy of the White?

So I hear your thoughts. "What's your point, Bruno?"
Here's my point.

Did Stephen King screw up? Did he start writing the Wastelands, and wrote in NCP using it as a kind of company who the Old Ones had to help out the failing beams, and then forgot and used them as part of the Bad guys?

OchrisO
03-27-2008, 07:03 PM
I had just assumed that Sombra had at some point purchased NCP when it was a growing company. I'm probably way off, though.

Subsidiaries are usually created by buying stock in a company until you control 51% of the stock and have controlling interest. So I thought that maybe NCP was not an evil company per se, they were purchased after the things were made.

John Blaze
03-27-2008, 07:21 PM
I had just assumed that Sombra had at some point purchased NCP when it was a growing company. I'm probably way off, though.

Subsidiaries are usually created by buying stock in a company until you control 51% of the stock and have controlling interest. So I thought that maybe NCP was not an evil company per se, they were purchased after the things were made.

But I've always understood that Roland's world is a futuristic version of our World, and what can happen if we put too much trust in technology. I also think the slow-mutants are a result of nuclear warfare.

So what I'm saying is, NCP in Roland's world was already an established company, who knew about the Beams, and tried to do something to help.

OchrisO
03-27-2008, 07:24 PM
Right, before Sombra held controlling share in the company(in my opinion anyway). They built the stuff, did good for the beams and them Sombra managed to win over the controlling shares in the company. Hostile corprate takeover happens in our world all the time. I'd imagine they did in Roland's world before it moved on as well.

John Blaze
03-27-2008, 07:27 PM
BUT, my friend.

What I'm saying, towards the end of Roland's world, before it started moving on, Sombra must have already owned the company, do you understand what I mean?

OchrisO
03-27-2008, 07:31 PM
How does that lead to the beam equipment being built after Sombra aquired control, though? My point is that all of this equipment has NCP logos because they knew about the beams and were working to help them stay in proper order, but then Sombra initiated a hostile takeover of the company(or something of taht nature) and gained control of it all. That is the point at which it all started to fall apart, because Sombra stopped maintaining it all and let it fall into disarray instead of directly destroying it so that they could maintain their corporate front. This rpobaly happened before the world started moving on because it was part of a number of things that caused the moving on.

John Blaze
03-27-2008, 07:41 PM
Yeah, but then Sombra, who belongs to the CK, whom has breakers trying to BREAK the fucken beam, can't just send people to destroy the beam boosting boxes and kill the beam guardians?

It still doesn't make sense.

The only way I can figure, and I don't think Sk did it on purpose or meant it to be interpreted that way, is that The Crimson King wants the topple of the Tower, and thus the destruction of the multiverse, hence the failure of NCPs beam boosters and guardians may be an intelligent design goal instead of an accidental fuckup.

OchrisO
03-27-2008, 07:52 PM
Who's to say that the beam breakers were there and active as long as the NCP equipment was? Perhaps the beam breakers came after Sombra started taking a less insidious methodology in the destruction of the tower. Most all evil grabs for power or destruction of good start with small insidious moved before outright hostility starts.I would even assume that North Central Positronics was active and making equipment before the time of Arthur Eld, and consequently before the time of The Crimson King, since Arthur Eld was after the world had moved on and they were trying to replace the equipment that had lead the world to ruin with magic and they were just rediscovering guns in Arthur's time. So, it is likely that NCP built all of the beam equipment before the world was destroyed by technology and moved on. Then the Crimson King acquired NCP through Sombra so that noone would take up where they left off and try to repair the equipment(which was probably highly unlikely anyway since the people working for The White already had a distrust of technology), so having control of the company, he didn't need to destroy it, he only had to keep the company from repairing it.

OchrisO
03-27-2008, 08:05 PM
Also, I realize my theory changed a bit as this thread has progressed, but I am just exploring ideas, and like I said before, am probably way off anyway. I don't have a set theory on it.

John Blaze
03-27-2008, 08:51 PM
Who's to say that the beam breakers were there and active as long as the NCP equipment was? Perhaps the beam breakers came after Sombra started taking a less insidious methodology in the destruction of the tower. Most all evil grabs for power or destruction of good start with small insidious moved before outright hostility starts.I would even assume that North Central Positronics was active and making equipment before the time of Arthur Eld, and consequently before the time of The Crimson King, since Arthur Eld was after the world had moved on and they were trying to replace the equipment that had lead the world to ruin with magic and they were just rediscovering guns in Arthur's time. So, it is likely that NCP built all of the beam equipment before the world was destroyed by technology and moved on. Then the Crimson King acquired NCP through Sombra so that noone would take up where they elft off and try to repair the equipment(which was probably highly unlikely anyway since the people working for The White already had a distrust of technology), so having control of the company, he didn't need to destroy it, he only had to keep the company from repairing it.

dude! try making different paragraphs! I'm too tired to comprehend this today, i'll reply tomorrow.

OchrisO
03-27-2008, 08:56 PM
That's all one paragraph because it deals with one aspect of the subject. It is also only five sentences and doesn't warrant a new paragraph. There's no point in blaming my writing style for your tiredness and inability to comprehend what I said.

John Blaze
03-27-2008, 09:05 PM
touchy touchy....

yeah, you're right, and I'll post tomorrow.

John Blaze
03-28-2008, 10:52 AM
Who's to say that the beam breakers were there and active as long as the NCP equipment was? Perhaps the beam breakers came after Sombra started taking a less insidious methodology in the destruction of the tower. Most all evil grabs for power or destruction of good start with small insidious moved before outright hostility starts.

BUt there's Doors, the Sombra Corp has access to other worlds, wouldn't they be able to send someone back to destroy the beam boosters and the guardians?


I would even assume that North Central Positronics was active and making equipment before the time of Arthur Eld, and consequently before the time of The Crimson King, since Arthur Eld was after the world had moved on and they were trying to replace the equipment that had lead the world to ruin with magic and they were just rediscovering guns in Arthur's time.

Before the time of the CK? I don't think so. I believe that the CK is timeless in his own way, that his world in relation to the others is like Narnia. Time flies by in the others and such thousands of years can pass within his lifetime.


So, it is likely that NCP built all of the beam equipment before the world was destroyed by technology and moved on. Then the Crimson King acquired NCP through Sombra so that noone would take up where they left off and try to repair the equipment(which was probably highly unlikely anyway since the people working for The White already had a distrust of technology), so having control of the company, he didn't need to destroy it, he only had to keep the company from repairing it.
But that's stupid. If your stated goal is the destruction of the Tower, Yesterday shouldn't be soon enough. Especially if he knows that Roland is on his way and gunning for him. There's always that inherent risk.

If he did what you said it's like when Dr. Evil has Austin Powers and puts him in a place where he has a chance to escape "No, I'm just gonna assume he doesn't escape and everything goes according to my plan, What?"

It makes no sense.

OchrisO
03-28-2008, 11:02 AM
[edit] "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born"
In issue #2 of this series it is revealed that the Abbalah/Los is the offspring of King Arthur Eld of All-World and the oldest of the Great Ones, red, spider-like creatures created from the Prim. After being presented 13 magical spheres by the treacherous Maerlyn (a Great One as well) and the monsters of the Prim in human disguise, Arthur and his court are changed by their chaotic magic. Sir Kay Deschain, the king's most trusted advisor, is the only one left unaffected. When he goes to spy on Maerlyn and his party, Sir Kay sees the Great Ones shed their human forms. Worst of all, the red spider is having her way with Arthur. Sir Kay injures the creature and drives off the Great Ones at the cost of his own life, but the damage is already done. The creature has conceived and will give birth to a son. Maerlyn prophesies that this red prince would be a ruler of chaos but would fall to a human descendant of Arthur Eld named Roland.


So, The Crimson King didn't exist until Arthur Eld did the pants dance with his mommy. Therefore, the Crimson King had to come into existence sometime after NCP had created all of this stuff and technology had failed and almost destroyed the world. Also, I got the impression that The Crimson King was never in any sort of hurry to destroy the tower until he saw the Roland was getting close to it. That is the nature of presumably immortal(immortal in the aspect taht he probably wouldn't have died unless he killed himself or someone killed him) beings. When you ahev time on your side, there's no hurry. We only get in a hurry to do stuff because we know that we have roughly x number of years to accomplish anything. That was never a corcern for Los.

John Blaze
03-28-2008, 11:08 AM
Wow. I have that, but I guess I didn't read it that closely, or did and forgot, or didn't and thought I did. Hmm.

Ok, you get that point, guvnor, but what about my other two replies?

OchrisO
03-28-2008, 11:15 AM
I'm not sure, other than the idea that I never got the impression that he was in a great big hurry to destroy the tower until he discovered that Roland was close to his goal, at which point he went crazy in his haste. Perhaps it was just arrogance in that he thought that he had all the time that he wanted and didn't need to get in any hurry.


Villains generally have a flaw that allows them to be defeated. it is usually arrogance of some sort. that's what the character of Dr Evil in Austin Powers makes fun of. Maybe Los neve rthought taht Roland would succeed in his goals and he was arrogant in the idea that he was in no danger of losing until it was upon him.

Wuducynn
03-28-2008, 11:18 AM
This is some incredibly juicy chat...I'm loving this thread. Your questions Bruno are some good ones....let me have a thunk about them and get back to you. And your answers Chris are spot on as far as I seem them. :thumbsup:

Wuducynn
03-28-2008, 11:38 AM
Oh I'm sorry! Did I interrupt a private chat in a public thread? :lol:

OchrisO
03-28-2008, 11:42 AM
Haha, I think I have exhausted all that I can say on it for now, plus I have to get ready for work soon.

I was starting to wonder if anyone else was going to chime in, though.

obscurejude
03-28-2008, 01:59 PM
John, my purposes here are two fold: 1) to let you know that you are not alone in pointing the ambiguity of the beams and 2) to suggest that this ambiguity might be representative of the dualistic nature of the Tower metaphysically.

I posted this in the "what is the tower" thread a few months ago

One of the things I recently discussed with someone was the lack of metaphysical descriptions of the tower. One of the paradoxes that I can't get my head around is that the tower seems to represent both good (the beams, Gan) and evil (the Great Old Ones who tried to manufacture the prim with technology) simultaneously without distinction. This being said, King does not use the same ambiguity in discussing the protagonists and antagonists of the story. I.e. Roland represents the "white" while C.K. represents the "red" and other antagonists represent the "black." Even the beams themselves are ambiguous. They need saving and in some way represent Gan, yet weren't they made by the old ones and are part of North Central Positronics etc..? I'm thinking of the scene in Wastelands where the portal of Shardik is described. Eddie is scared to death when he places his ear against the machinery, yet this same machinery is what created the beams and the tower. It seems like a very dualistic cosmology to me. Is the tower the embodiment of the dualistic nature of Gan/God- both good and evil? Help me out if it pleases ya. I say thank ya big big.

Maybe it would be helpful to start thinking about it like this, perhaps not.

John Blaze
03-28-2008, 03:45 PM
They need saving and in some way represent Gan, yet weren't they made by the old ones and are part of North Central Positronics etc..? I'm thinking of the scene in Wastelands where the portal of Shardik is described. Eddie is scared to death when he places his ear against the machinery, yet this same machinery is what created the beams and the tower. It seems like a very dualistic cosmology to me. Is the tower the embodiment of the dualistic nature of Gan/God- both good and evil? Help me out if it pleases ya. I say thank ya big big.

Maybe it would be helpful to start thinking about it like this, perhaps not.

But NCP didn't create the beams, the beams are a magical apparatus which holds up the Tower and Probably goes back to the indefinite past. However, when the beams started failing NCP made these Beam Boosters (my words) to help them stay strong. The machinery didn't create the beams and Tower, the Tower is like God, it always was and always will be.

Wuducynn
03-28-2008, 04:56 PM
Song of Susannah and Comic book Spoilers below




Its mentioned in SOS and in issue 2 of The Gunslinger Born that there was a point when there was no Dark Tower...The Dark Tower (Gan) arose from the Prim.
The Beams were originally purely spiritual entities but when the Great Old Ones tried to conquer the Dark Tower they damaged it and the Beams and the GOOs, having mastered combining magic and technology tried to repair them using technology.
Like Chris has already said, it appears that North Central Positronics was most likely taken over by Sombra.



This post has been edited by maerlyn

obscurejude
03-28-2008, 05:26 PM
I agree with CK on this one, and that's why I see it representative of both good and evil, which seems to fit the dualistic views that DT seems to espouse. The prim was all that was needed before it receded.

John Blaze
03-28-2008, 08:32 PM
God, i'm gonna pull out my TGB and read them all over again, I'm getting buttfucked by these quotes.

obscurejude
03-29-2008, 07:29 AM
Its implied in the DT books too, but I don't want to stand in the way of you getting buttfucked.

John Blaze
03-29-2008, 11:44 AM
no it is not, or I would know.

give me some page numbers, fuckface!

obscurejude
03-29-2008, 05:19 PM
Page numbers forthcoming when I get a little time, fuckface.

HanzouNorak
03-29-2008, 08:08 PM
ok forgive my shitty memory but,

exactly where does it say the Sombra own NCP? and if it never did say that;

maybe the CKs cronies found NCP tech and used it rather than Sombra owning NCP before hand, this would explain the lack of action against the Beam Boosters, they simply didn't know about them,after all if there was a nuke war, how did Sombra survive? and since we see Sombra is run by Taheen, it more likely somthing the Taheen went back and created to hunt down the Rose, and eventualy probaly Stephen King.

or, considering how Shardik was outta control, how could they manage getting close to the Beam Booster? they couldn't move in heavy artilery (if they had any) because of the woods, and conventional lasers, sneetches, energy swords, and guns would be superfical damage on a creature/machine that size.

Wuducynn
03-29-2008, 08:48 PM
ok forgive my shitty memory but,

exactly where does it say the Sombra own NCP? and if it never did say that;


It doesn't say that, it is a theory of mine.

John Blaze
04-01-2008, 03:12 PM
are you sure it doesn't say that? I'm pretty sure it does say that NCP is one of the underlings of Sombra. It is my personal theory that Trans Corp. is another of these shadow entities.

Wuducynn
04-01-2008, 05:16 PM
are you sure it doesn't say that? I'm pretty sure it does say that NCP is one of the underlings of Sombra. It is my personal theory that Trans Corp. is another of these shadow entities.

It never says for sure that one owns the other..except for Trans Corp. In DT7 it is mentioned that it is a subsidiary of North Central Positronics.

John Blaze
04-01-2008, 06:35 PM
aha!

further proof that I am right and NCP is evil!

Wuducynn
04-02-2008, 01:33 PM
Wikipedia's entries on Sombra Corporation and North Central Positronics are interesting -

Sombra Corporation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to: navigation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombra_Corporation#column-one), search (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombra_Corporation#searchInput)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Portal.svg/28px-Portal.svg.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Portal.svg)

The Dark Tower Portal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:The_Dark_Tower)
Sombra Corporation is a fictional megacorporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacorporation) in the Dark Tower series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Tower_%28series%29) by Stephen King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King).
Sombra corporation is controlled by the Crimson King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_King). Sombra Corporation rose to power in the late 80s and fully monopolized high-tech R&D and manufacturing for an unknown, but certainly long period of time. It is affiliated with LaMerk Industries and North Central Positronics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_Positronics). In the Keystone World (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Places_in_The_Dark_Tower_series#Our_world), the reign of Sombra Corporation was challenged and possibly halted by the Tet Corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Corporation), which was founded by Roland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Deschain) and his ka-tet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka-tet#Ka-tet) specifically for this purpose.
In the novels, Sombra Corporation's main act of 'evil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil)' was to purchase the vacant lot in Manhattan which contained the rose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rose_%28Dark_Tower%29), the manifestation of the Dark Tower on this plane of existence. The purpose of this move was to demolish the land to build condos, thus destroying the rose and, perhaps in the process, weakening or destroying the Dark Tower, the linchpin which held the multiverse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse) together.
Note: "Sombra" means "shadow" or "shade" in Spanish and Portuguese.


North Central Positronics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to: navigation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_Positronics#column-one), search (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_Positronics#searchInput)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Portal.svg/28px-Portal.svg.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Portal.svg)

The Dark Tower Portal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:The_Dark_Tower)
North Central Positronics is a fictional (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiction) corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation) in Stephen King's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King) "Dark Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Tower)" series.
North Central Positronics appears in multiple works of Stephen King, sometimes as a passing reference or -- as in the Dark Tower series -- a central "character" to the story. It is a huge corporation which manufactures technologically-advanced items such as robots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot), computers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer), and weapons. Although almost all of North Central Positronics's products appear on the surface to be designed to benefit or protect civilization, these products are almost always shown in the story as dangerous, damaged, or perverted from their original purpose. This is most prominent in the Dark Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Tower) series, where the few remaining North Central Positronics products still functioning have gone insane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insane), preying upon life and the remnants of civilization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization). In a larger sense, North Central Positronics is a classical example of the Frankenstein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein) Complex.
Stephen King uses North Central Positronics as an example of a society that has shunned the "natural" world, instead attempting to control the world via technology. In the Dark Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Tower_%28series%29) series, the Old Ones -- the technologically advanced society that has "moved on" and left the world in ruin -- sought to replace the magical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_%28paranormal%29) means by which the world was controlled with technology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology) from North Central Positronics. Unfortunately, this technology either ran amok or degraded over time, wreaking destruction upon reality itself.
By the time it is encountered by Roland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_of_Gilead) and his ka-tet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka_%28Dark_Tower%29), North Central Positronics is part of the Sombra Group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombra_Corporation), owned by the Crimson King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_King), the personification of Satan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan) and evil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil) in the world of the Dark Tower. The Crimson King's stated goal is the destruction of the multiverse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_universe_%28fiction%29), thus the destructive failure of North Central Positronics's products can be seen as an ultimate design goal instead of an unfortunate happenstance. This theme is carried forward in every Stephen King book featuring North Central Positronics, but none more so than the Dark Tower series.
North Central Positronics can be seen as a parable on the futility of man's attempt to control nature and thus his destiny. In this sense, the ultimate failure of technology in the face of the natural and/or supernatural (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural) can be compared to the Tower of Babel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel) and such famous disasters such as the sinking of the RMS Titanic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic).


No entry for LaMerk Foundry though.

John Blaze
04-02-2008, 06:08 PM
It is affiliated with LaMerk Industries and North Central Positronics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_Positronics).

told you so. :P

HanzouNorak
04-02-2008, 06:19 PM
aha!

further proof that I am right and NCP is evil!

so since your the expert on the evil bisnuesses in End-world here, can you explain to me how these two are run considering the nuke war (or whatever apoctliptic thing happened) that seemed to wipe off most of humanity?

and All_hail, can u tell me where it says that? lines can be interpreted this way and that so i wanna give you a second opinion.

Wuducynn
04-03-2008, 05:25 AM
It is affiliated with LaMerk Industries and North Central Positronics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_Positronics).

told you so. :P

Told me so what? I've been in agreement with you on this.

Wuducynn
04-03-2008, 05:27 AM
so since your the expert on the evil bisnuesses in End-world here, can you explain to me how these two are run considering the nuke war (or whatever apoctliptic thing happened) that seemed to wipe off most of humanity?

and All_hail, can u tell me where it says that? lines can be interpreted this way and that so i wanna give you a second opinion.

Where it says what Hanzou? Where it says that NCP is necessarily evil?

John Blaze
04-03-2008, 07:25 PM
It is affiliated with LaMerk Industries and North Central Positronics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_Positronics).

told you so. :P

Told me so what? I've been in agreement with you on this.

I wasn't telling you, dude. I was just saying.

and Hanzou, where did I say I'm an expert? Why not prove me wrong?

Wuducynn
04-03-2008, 07:47 PM
I wasn't telling you, dude. I was just saying.


Oh it was just the crack speaking then. I understand.

John Blaze
04-04-2008, 10:37 AM
I wasn't telling you, dude. I was just saying.


Oh it was just the crack speaking then. I understand.

The crack of your mom's ass. :D

Wuducynn
04-04-2008, 02:44 PM
The crack of my mom's ass can swear in Latin..what does the crack of your mother's ass do? Besides being the receptical of every dick in the county I mean.

John Blaze
04-04-2008, 06:08 PM
The crack of my mom's ass can swear in Latin..what does the crack of your mother's ass do? Besides being the receptical of every dick in the county I mean.

except yours, because it has that sign that says you must be this long l..l to ride, remember?

Your dick is so small it's inverted, must be why you're such a bitch.

Jean
04-04-2008, 10:59 PM
COUGH COUGH

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/backtotopic.gif NOW

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/thank_you.gif

John Blaze
04-04-2008, 11:09 PM
say sorry, Jean, but CK and I have been friends for a while, and as such our conversations sometimes deteriorate into pissing contests and mama jokes.

we're back on topic now. :D

I've noticed there's no Towerpedia article on NCP, and I've decided to write it myself as soon as I get a chance.

ZoNeSeeK
04-08-2008, 05:34 PM
NCP technology stopped aiding the beams and the Tower long before Roland and his ka-tet faced off with Shardik. Shardik was sick and insane, and the humming coming from his portal (from memory) sounded dangerous and negative. CK didn't need to do anything about Shardik (or any of the other NCP guardians, if they still existed) because they weren't helping the beams any longer.

I've assumed that while NCP was under the control of the old ones, they (naively) tried to help existence by bolstering the power of the fading prim through technology. Then there was the inevitable technology war (which has been an ongoing theme in other modern literature aswell - our technology is our downfall etc) and fragments of these mega-companies tried to pick up and continue. They were usurped by the Red for the Red's purposes only.

Who knows in what time frame the "golden era" of NCP was in relation to Keystone Earth. The Tet corp is founded to try and prevent and control NCP, Sombra and LaMerk from achieving objectives that would ultimately help the Red.

In Keystone Earth, we are getting the impression that Sombra and NCP have just begun their rise to power, but in Roland's World, they're almost in the dust (or will be soon). This confirms the theory (which is also another recurring theme in modern lit) that time is a wheel and events are cyclical. This is also evidenced by the giant statue of Roland (or a Gunslinger who looks alot like Roland) in Lud.

Gunslinger_by_Ka
04-21-2008, 07:26 AM
Can anyone name the names of all of the gaurdians of the beam? :unsure:
:dance: :drool: :borg:

Bear, Turtle, Fish, Eagle, Lion, Bat, and Wolf

Wuducynn
04-21-2008, 07:29 AM
As far as I know they all haven't been named yet. Probably will be in the upcoming graphic novel series'. I don't think the Waystation is the right forum for this thread to be in though.

Wuducynn
04-21-2008, 07:31 AM
Also, there is already a thread about the 12 Guardians here -

http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=479

Storyslinger
04-21-2008, 07:32 AM
I moved it to the town commons, just waiting on a merge.

Brice
04-21-2008, 07:47 AM
According to wikipedia they are:

Bear - Turtle
Horse - Dog
Rat - Fish
Elephant - Wolf
Lion - Eagle



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Lands

...but that is only ten.

According to this site:

http://stephenking.kraftysworld.co.uk/darktower/guardians/

The other two are Ape and Bat. I'm not certain of the accuracy of this though.

Wuducynn
04-21-2008, 07:48 AM
Yeah, but the person who started the thread wants to know the names of the Guardians. They aren't all named yet.

Brice
04-21-2008, 08:46 AM
Ah, I guess I misunderstood. Sorry!

Wuducynn
04-21-2008, 09:20 AM
Well, we've got Maturin and Shardik and the Guardian of the 13th Gate (that doesn't count)...and thats it. I'm really hoping they'll all be named in upcoming issues of the graphic novel.

Mr. Rabbit Trick
04-21-2008, 11:09 AM
I'm really hoping they'll all be named in upcoming issues of the graphic novel.

I don't think that should count as King has does not write for these graphic novels.

You might as well make up the names yourself.

Wuducynn
04-21-2008, 11:19 AM
I'm really hoping they'll all be named in upcoming issues of the graphic novel.

I don't think that should count as King has does not write for these graphic novels.

You might as well make up the names yourself.

I think it counts because they're all greenlit by King and he does give a lot of feedback. So its not a totally separate thing from him.

Matt
04-21-2008, 12:11 PM
I may be stupid but I am counting the stuff in the comics as canon. As closely as SK guards this stuff, it seems like even if it is written by someone else..it still has his blessing.

Like the bible. :lol:

Wuducynn
04-21-2008, 12:24 PM
Well if you're stupid, then I'm sharing your stupidity. To me the reasoning is sound.

MonteGss
04-21-2008, 05:42 PM
I'm stupid too then. The info in the comic is done with King involved, so it is canon. Period.

Gunslinger_by_Ka
04-29-2008, 07:40 AM
They only name seven in the gaurdians. That I have seen anyway, Im on Wizard and Glass now.

Wuducynn
04-29-2008, 08:01 AM
Seven are named? What are the names of the other five? As far as I know only Maturin and Shardik are named.

LemurJones
06-02-2008, 12:00 PM
If one of the guardians is really Ape then I call LEMUR.

Darkthoughts
12-26-2008, 03:25 PM
I've merged two threads discussing different aspects of this interesting topic. So, here's the place to discuss anything and everything relating to the Guardians of the Beams :rose: