Darksiders, originally subtitled Wrath of War, is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ. The game takes its inspiration from the apocalypse, with the player taking the role of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
A war has raged between the Kingdoms of Heaven and Hell since the dawn of creation with neither side gaining the advantage over the other. Drawn to the unchecked conflict, a mediator group, named "The Charred Council", arose and dedicated themselves to maintaining order and balance in order to preserve the very fabric of the universe. To this end, they created a brotherhood, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (War, Death, Strife and Fury), to intervene and enforce their laws among both forces where necessary. Amidst the conflict, the first humans emerged. The Council foresaw that humans, while weak, were also cunning and would be integral and contribute to the balance's stability not by their meager strength but by their intellect; thus, a third kingdom was named, the "Kingdom of Man". The Council brokered a truce between the Kingdoms of Heaven and Hell: the Seven Seals were created to be broken when the Kingdom of Man was ready for the Endwar where the Four Horsemen would ride into battle across Earth to punish the guilty, the pact would be forged anew, and the ultimate fate of the three Kingdoms decided.
In the present day, armies of demons and angels fall to Earth and the final battle begins, the two forces destroying everything in their wake. In the midst of the chaos, the Horseman War interferes to bring order. Upon his confrontation with Abaddon, the general of Heaven's army, War discovers that -to his confusion and shock- the other Horsemen have not arrived and the Seventh Seal, the seal of the Four Horsemen, has not been broken. Straga, a powerful demon and servant of a being called "The Destroyer" who leads the armies of Hell, arises from the ground and kills Abaddon. War battles Straga and is defeated, but is saved from death and sent to The Charred Council for judgement; the Charred Council accuses War of destroying the balance by bringing about the Apocalypse prematurely, aiding in the destruction of the Kingdom of Man, and siding with the forces of the Destroyer and Hell. Thus, the Council sentences him to death. A defiant War protests his innocence and demands a chance to find the one responsible for starting the Apocalypse prematurely and to restore balance. The Council agrees, on the condition that he loses his former power and strength with which he was formerly "summoned" along with being bound to one of their keepers, The Watcher, who has the power to kill War if he forsakes his servitude to the Charred Council and in the event that he strays from his new mission.
