Moon Children

This article is about the cult. You may be looking for the website or the story arc.

"She has chosen us - and only us - to survive the upcoming apocolypse because we have honored Her and devoted ourselves to Her. As we work to enforce Her will, we grow together as a family and serve the greater good. We are the Moon's Children."

—Introduction, Youshouldnthavedonethat.net

The Moon Children was a cult consisting of several members ranging from early teens to young adults, and possibly older members. While active, they appeared to worship a moon deity of the cult's own making called Luna.

During Awakening, Abel revealed that the Moon Children was actually a front for the Eternity Project, which would use its members as test subjects in digitization research.

History

1998 or before

The Moon Children was founded in 1998 by Kelbris as a front for the "Eternity Project", which aimed to allow the achievement of an immortal "enlightenment". The front was aimed at reaching disenfranchised youth as the primary bulk of their personnel. Kelbris claimed that he began to receive whispers from a deity he called Luna, which were said to detail how the world would end. It is stated this occurred when the cult was "still young", but how developed the order actually was at that point isn't elaborated upon. Kelbris was later found dead by electrocution; and whether he meant to or not, he had undergone ascension. Kelbris became close to deified after his death, posthumously honored as the cult's greatest prophet, whose teachings became the cornerstone of the cult's beliefs.

Now ascended, Kelbris became the entity later known as The Father, who himself had become a greatly revered figure within the cult by 2010.

2002

Around this time, Ben became involved with either the cult or someone in it. As a result, he became the subject of ascension on April 23. The method used in the ritual was drowning.

What was left of his consciousness, along with something else far more malicious, was contained inside of his copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and left in the care of an old man. The Father was also apparently sealed inside of the cartridge as well, for unknown reasons.

2010

Jadusable acquired the haunted cartridge from the old man during his second year of college. BEN then began taunting Jadusable for several days, at which point Jadusable "woke up" The Father at the cost of his own life. BEN then 'escaped' the cartridge to the internet via Jadusable's online correspondence about his experiences with the cartridge. After BEN escaped, he dropped hints on Jadusable's YouTube channel that led users to youshouldnthavedonethat.net, a newly-acquired website for use by the Moon Children.

The site showed that they intended to move in order to keep one or several former members out for an unknown reason. Among them was Alex, said to be the cult's greatest warrior. The first event users witnessed was the ascension of Nekko, which was unable to be prevented. Over the next few days, users had a hand in attempts to prevent Ifrit's and Rosa's disappearances, both of which failed. Users also began helping Alex to escape, though the success of this attempt was left ambiguous.

2011

By 2011, several missing or dead members of the Moon Children had been trapped inside Wayward Horizon, a hidden forum section on Within Hubris.

2020

The Moon Children sans Odolwa in The Prisoner.wmv

During the Awakening Arc, Sarah is given possession of the haunted cartridge and is charged by the sprit of Ben with freeing the Father's prisoners. Inside the game, she encounters the in-game Moon Children, who work to hinder her progress.

Sarah is tasked by Ifrit (Matt) to destroy the Moon Children as part of their plan to perform the Fourth Day Glitch to create an avenue to The Father. The Moon Children themselves transform themselves into their respective bosses as they battle Sarah. Sarah is able to defeat the Odolwa and Goht Moon Children and absorb them as heart pieces, albeit in the case of the latter she required considerable assistance from Rosa. The Gyorg Moon Child, learning from the mistakes of the others, grants Sarah invulnerability and intended to keep her in the boss fight forever, as she lacked the tools (or, masks) needed to actually kill the boss. In the ensuing "battle", Sarah managed to knock herself out of the boss area and fled the area, where she was met by a corrupted Jadusable, who promptly killed her. After being revived and performing the Fourth Day Glitch, Matt reveals he has been aligned with the Moon Children the entire time and that Sarah was little more than a pawn in their scheme. When Sarah finds Ben and Jadusable hiding together in the Clock Tower's sewers, Jadusable admonishes Sarah for simply believing everything she was told, and explained that he was trying to stop the Glitch from being replicated the entire time. He explains that the Moon Children serve The Father in order to twist the world into a nightmare of His creation — but in reality, they are just as clueless as to what He wants as everyone else. He also states that in the interim between Sarah's death and her revival, he killed the Gyorg Moon Child, but his Fierce Deity's blade broke when he tried to kill the final child — the Moonchild wearing Majora's Mask. It is this child who Sarah ultimately fights, after becoming imbued with Jadusable's soul and strength, in the form of Majora's Wrath. The final Moonchild is defeated when Sarah plays the Song of Healing before it, causing it to simply disappear with a screech.

Later, The Father states that in order to protect the world, he is removing all "anomalies" — those who wish to harm, kill, or otherwise upset the natural order. While it is known that this parameter applied to Matt, who was subsequently erased, it is unknown if the Moon Children survived this purge, though all things considered it seems rather likely they were erased too.

Members

Confirmed members

• The Father (Kelbris^†)
• DROWNED
• Ifrit^†
• Nekko^†
• Duskworld23^†
• Insidiae^†
• Ben^†
• Rem^†
• David
• Ryan
• Danielle
• Jeff
• Dark_Rider404
• sidicus9
• Paradoxicle
• 13fliptime
• CB
• BoogeymanHere
• Sable

Unconfirmed members

• Rosa^†
• Maerlie
• Circle^†
• Ryan^†
• Eternity Project participants^†

Former members

• Alex^†

Creed and Theories

The Moon Children had two creeds for separate occasions. One was their official creed, and the other was used for initiation ceremonies. The spelling has not been altered.

The Creed

[Participants must be wearing their Mask]

O father, I pledge to youa
O mother, I give myself a hundred times
May the Moon illuminate our path
We bare our souls to you
To that which will Bring the end
Empower us with your infinite grace
May we recieve the greatest glory of all
May we ascend to the heavens themselves
We are the Moon's Children
We are mortal angels

The Initiation Creed

By my blood, as I draw it here
I dedicate myself to service
I severe all ties of my old life
Those who birthed me are meaningless
Those who raised me are hopeless
Those who loved me are worthless
I now wear this mask to symbolize my transformation
As a child learns to walk so too will I learn to fly

[Pause as for the mask ceremony]

With these words I pledge myself to my new family
That even though this mask may leave my face
The scars that symbolize my devotion will never fade
Now I am truly born

They had several apocalypse theories, mostly revolving around the year 2012.

Mayan Calendar Prophecy

This is the most popular of the 2012 apocalypse stories, and the one most often referenced in the media and popular culture. The Mayan calendar is quite complex, and is broken up into units called “Kin”, “Tun”, and “Baktun”. The much hyped “13-baktun cycle” is scheduled to be completed 1,872,000 days (or 13 baktuns) after the beginning of their calendar. This period of time is the well knwon Mayan “Great Cycle” of their Long Count calendar and is equal to 5125.36 of our standard years. This is where the date of December 12, 2012 comes from, as the Mayan calendar purportedly began August 11th, 3114 BCE — do the math, and you’ll come to the same conclusion as other Mayan scholars. The “end” of the Mayan calendar is 12/12/2012. Hence the 2012 apocalypse scare.

One reason people put so much stock in the Mayan Long Count calendar is that the Mayans were extremely sophisticated mathematicians and stargazers. It is well known that Mayans understood mathematical concepts hundreds of even thousands of years before the rest of the world. The Mayans worked out the seemingly simple concept of zero by around 36 BCE. Inscriptions discovered by archaeologists show the Mayans working with complex sums up to the hundreds of millions. The Mayans also produced extremely accurate astronomical maps and notes — their charts of the movements of the moon and planets are far superior to the maps and charts of any other civilization that was working strictly from observations by the naked eye.

Because the Mayans are known to have worked out a complex and accurate calendar well before “Western civilization”, people put great faith in their 2012 apocalypse theory.

Hindu Prophecy

According to Hindu scripture, the “Golden Age of Krishna” is likely to start in 2012. In the “Brahma-Vaivarta Purana”, Lord Krishna tells a devotee named Ganga Devi that a Golden Age will come in the Kali Yuga – one of the four stages of development that the world goes through as part of the earth’s time cycle — a cycle described in Hindu scriptures. Lord Krishna predicted that this Golden Age will start 5,000 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga, and will last for 10,000 years.

That may sound like sometime in the distant future, but according to some Hindu researches, the Kali Yuga began on February 18, 3102 BCE. That means there is only a difference of 12 years between the Hindu’s beginning of the Kali Yuga and the Mayan’s beginning of their “Fifth Great Cycle”. Its important to know that the ancient Hindus mainly used a lunar calendar but also used solar calendars — this throws off those of us in the West, as the ancient Hindu time system is vastly different from our own. By either solar or lunar years, we are over 5,000 years into the Kali Yuga and it is time for Lord Krishna’s prophecy to happen according to the ancient Hindu scriptures. This may not be a direct reference to 2012, but is so closely aligned to the Mayan and other prophecies, that people lump it in with other “2012 apocalypse” theories.

NASA Predictions

You may be surprised to learn that many 2012 apocalypse believers point to some NASA studies as evidence of the coming endtimes. NASA has released a study of the sun that includes predictions about solar flares, sunspots, and other solar interference that could have a catastrophic effect on life here on Earth. According to the report:

“Many forecasters believe Solar Cycle 24 will be big and intense. Peaking in 2011 or 2012, the cycle to come could have significant impacts on telecommunications, air traffic, power grids and GPS systems. In this age of satellites and cell phones, the next solar cycle could make itself felt as never before.”

Some see the fact that this new solar outburst will arrive in 2012 as more than a coincidence — maybe it is further evidence of a catastrophic event in 2012, something that ushers in the 2012 apocalypse.

Luna Prophecy

Dating back to 1998, a Moonchild named Kelbris recieved several whispers from Luna herself. The Order was still young then and Kelbris was the first member to have been talked to by Her. Rather than Ascending him, however, these whispers informed him of how The End will come about. The whispers were brief and vague, detailed below:

"They (unintelligible) break free of the prison"

"Engulf the world"

"Man will be betrayed by its minions and I will be brought down from the sky, consuming everything"

It's worth noting that the number three is reported by Kelbris to have been said numerous times, sometimes in between words, sometimes even between letters so it's assumed that there is some kind of significance there. Kelbris was later found electrocuted - whether it was foul play or an Ascension was never determined. Although transcended, Kelbris' discovery has made him a legendary figure within the Moon Children and much of the Order today is based off of that prophecy.

Notes

• Neither Ben nor Rosa have been confirmed to be a part of the cult.
• It is possible that Mr. D and DROWNED are the same person.
• The in-game Moon Children themselves may be members of the cult who ascended:
  • The apparent leader, the Moonchild wearing the titular Majora's Mask, was believed to be a representation of The Father, perhaps even Kelbris specifically. However, this Moonchild is present when the group proclaims they will "act in [The Father's] stead", indicating that they are two separate entities, and this fact is seemingly confirmed in The End.wmv when the Moonchild fights Sarah before The Father "arrives".
  • Nekko is named in the tags of The Last Hero.wmv during which Odolwa is fought and defeated — subsequently, in The Moon Children.wmv the Moonchild wearing Odolwa's mask is turned into a heart and collected by Sarah. This has lead to the theory that the Odolwa Moonchild represents Nekko.
  • Due to the similarity of the Goht mask and his YSHDT profile picture, it's also theorized that the Moonchild wearing Goht's mask represents Duskworld23. However, Dusk was found to be represented as Darmani in The Dying World.wmv, leaving the Goht-masked Moon Child's true identity a mystery. This is lampshaded by the Moonchild themselves, who defiantly proclaims he will not give Sarah the satisfaction of "solving some little mystery" by revealing his identity.
  • The identities of the remaining Moon Children, who wore Gyorg's and Twinmold's masks, are also unknown.
• Despite Matt's allegiance to them being revealed in The End.wmv, the Moon Children call him a "wretched man" in The Prisoner.wmv