Hello everyone! This is going to be trying a new type of article for fun that I call “Extended Lore.” In these articles, I’m going to be diving into some of the background, influences, and fun facts about your favorite characters in video games. This will obviously vary in priority from character to character as some characters have their backstories very well fleshed out, while others require some more digging to get to the good stuff. Because he is one of my favorite gods in Smite right now, and because it gives me a chance to flex my knowledge on Irish mythology, this first article is going to be dedicated to everyone’s favorite Irish Hulk: Cu Chulainn. Smite is a game that wears its love of mythology on its sleeve, and that love is one of the reasons I got into this game in the first place. But with so many different stories and sources, it can be difficult to really fit everything about a god into a 4-5 paragraph blurb in the lore section of the god page. Cu Chulainn is no exception, and in fact might be one of the gods that suffers from this the most. This is because there are simply so many stories about Cu Chulainn that you really only can pick the most important ones. Smite still did a really good job bringing one of my favorite Irish heroes to life, but a lot of the subtle details in-game can go unnoticed and unappreciated unless you really know your Irish mythology and literature. This is going to be the focus of the article today, and hopefully reading this will give you a better appreciation for just how good this character design is. With that being said, lets jump right into something that needs to be clarified.

The Name:

How do you pronounce this god’s name? I mean, if you know nothing about the Irish language, this can be really confusing, and its not like his name is a small detail of his character either. I am in no way an authority on the subject of Irish linguistics or any form of linguistics for that matter, but what I can say is that I have heard this name pronounced two ways. The first way is the way it is pronounced within Smite, and probably the more common pronouciation: coo COO-lan. In this version, the “h” in “Chulainn” is silent, almost like you are saying the name “Collin” just with a long “O.” The second way is the way I find most academics will pronounce the name, and the way that my Irish literature professor would pronounce the name: coo HOO-lan. This is pretty similar to the first pronunciation, but notice that instead of the “h” being silent, it’s the “c” in “Chulainn” that goes unsaid. You can think of this pronunciation like you were saying the words “Hoola Hoop.” There’s actually a linguistic reason for this, but to save time and not look like a fool trying to explain something I don’t fully understand, I’m going to link a video on Irish linguistics at the end of this article so you can see for yourself why this would be pronounced this way. So, which pronunciation is correct? Well, considering the academics, Wikipedia, and my Irish lit professor with two doctorates from Irish universities uses it, I’m inclined to say the second way is the true pronunciation.

Phew, well, now that that’s out of the way, we can get to the fun stuff. I know just where to begin…

The Riastrad:

If you’ve played Cu Chulainn in Smite, you probably have a good understanding of how his passive works. Basically, Cu Chulainn has no mana, but instead a rage bar that fills up by hitting basic attacks and abilities. This bar can only fill up to 100, and should you hit 85 out of 100, Cu Chulainn transforms into… wait, what exactly is that thing he transforms into? This, my friends, is what the Irish refer to as the “riastrad” or “warp-spasm.” Simply put, Cu Chulainn has some anger issues, and sometimes they get so bad that he suffers from one of these spasm. Oh, and, the whole transforming into a giant monster part of this? That’s not an exaggeration. He literally did that. On fact Hi-Rez portrayed this fairly tastefully, as most descriptions and depictions of the riastrad have Cu Chulainn’s body turning itself inside out, looking more like a giant blood monster than a human.

Basically, the vast majority of Cu Chulainn’s major combat feats can be attributed to him having a riastrad and, in a blood haze, killing everyone around him. Sometimes this was good, like when he halved the numbers of an invading army single handed. Other times, like when he went on a rampage in a small village, it wasn’t so great. Good or not, it is a huge part of what makes Cu Chulainn such an interesting character in mythology, and it really shows the duality of unbridled anger. At the very least, it makes for a fun game mechanic.

The Story:

When it comes to the stories of Cu Chulainn, Smite focuses on two them: the story of how he got his name, and the story of his greatest and final battle. They go pretty well into detail regarding the first of these, and you can get the jist of it by reading the lore section on his god page, but here’s a brief summary. Cu Chulainn, then called Setanta, was a young boy playing in the forest with other children when he was invited to go to a banquet held by the blacksmith, Culann. When he reached Culann’s house, the guard dog, not expecting him, attacked Setanta. This ended in Setanta killing Culann’s dog and promising the blacksmith that he would train another dog. Setanta also promised that, while he was training the dog, he would perform guard dog duties until the dog was ready. This act earned the young Setanta the name Cu Chulainn, or “The Hound of Culann.” What I find so interesting about Hi-Rez’s focus on this aspect of the Cu Chulainn myth is that it really doesn’t play into his in-game design at all. The closest it gets is that it is where he gets the “Hound” part of his title: The Hound of Ulster.

But this isn’t even Cu Chulainn’s greatest story. In fact, the majority of his design comes from a story that Smite more or less brushes over. And this story is maybe the greatest epic in all Irish mythology, often being called the Irish Iliad. This is the story of the Tain Bo Cuailnge, or “The Cattle Raid of Cooley.” Now, I know, “cattle raid” doesn’t exactly sound like a war epic, but it seriously is one of the most badass stories out there. So, logically, I am going to try and summarize one of the greatest stories in Irish history, so I will miss details. I highly recommend looking for a video or a shortened version of the story, because I will not be doing it justice.

The story starts when the kingdom of Ulster, Cu Chulainn’s home, is invaded by the armies of the kingdom of Connacht, lead by their queen, Medb (pronounced “Meave”) in order to steal some famous cows so she can have more material wealth than her king and husband, Ailill. This seems like an easy task, especially since the men of Ulster are all suffering from labor pains due to some questionable decision making by their king regarding pregnant goddesses and chariot racing (look it up). Fortunately, Cu Chulainn, the greatest warrior in Ulster, is not affected by these pains because he is only 17. So he, armed with his famous spear, the Gae Bolg (GUY-e BULG-uh), and a few other weapons, sets out to fight the armies of Connacht all on his own. Since he is a demigod and, as we stated before, suffers from brief fits of being the Hulk, this ends very poorly for Medb’s armies, as they are slaughtered by Cu Chulainn. He even manages to take out his old friend, Ferdiad, though this is a hard fought battle and in some versions of the Tain, it is here that Cu Chulainn dies after sustaining too many wounds. In other versions, Cu Chulainn dies by the hands of an assassin, but not before tying himself to a rock and fighting off a few other men before dying. In both cases, Cu Chulainn buys the armies of Ulster enough time to get over their labor pains and drive off the invading forces.

In Smite, the influence of the Tain is everywhere in Cu Chulainn’s design. First, lets talk about his spear, the Gae Bolg. In Smite, the Gae Bolg is his primary weapon, and it is used in his basic attacks, 1, 3, and ultimate. In the mythology, he used the spear far more as a last resort than as a primary weapon, mostly because of what it actually does. See, the Gae Bolg is used by throwing it with the foot and, if it hits the target, sends barbs through all the veins in the body that jut out, leaving the enemy looking like a bloody thorn bush. You can imagine why Hi-Rez toned this down for Smite.

Next, i want to bring up his death animation, because while brief, it carries with it huge connections to Irish culture. Remember how in the Tain, Cu Chulainn dies fighting while tied to a rock? Well, if he dies in Smite, a rock spouts up behind him, which he lays on weakly. So, sure, it’s a reference to the Tain, but it goes way beyond that. If you do a Google search of Cu Chulainn dying, you will see countless images and sculptures of this scene because it is incredibly important to the legend and Irish Myths. It is also worth mentioning that a raven flies on Cu Chulainn’s shoulder in his death animation. This is also very heavily featured in the art of him dying, and did happen in the Tain. What makes this all the more interesting is that this is also a reference to another Celtic goddess who is also in Smite.

In fact, Cu Chulainn has several encounters with the Morrigan during his life, the vast majority of which involve him denying her help to save his life. Usually, this ended fine for him, but in the case of the Tain, not so much.

Finally, I want to cover some of the smaller details in Cu Chulainn’s design. His Blonde hair is a reference to the fact that he is the son of the god of light, Lugh (pronounced Lou), and the Ulster part of his title comes, of course, from his home of Ulster. And all of this is just the stuff that comes from one of Cu Chulainn’s many stories. Frankly, if you want to learn more stories about the most metal character since Thor, a quick google search should help you out there.

Modern Day:

Like most Celtic Myths, the story of Cu Chulainn doesn’t get much attention these days. However, there are still a few references to this character in the modern day, and the Cu Chulainn myth is starting to pick up some popularity. The most prominent of these is the character of Lancer (whose real identity is Cu Chulainn) from the Fate series. Honestly, I have never seen the Fate series, nor do I know what role Cu Chulainn plays in it, but he is a fairly popular character with a pretty neat design, so I thought I’d bring him up.

It’s also worth mentioning that Hollywood was also considering putting up a film about Cu Chulainn in 2018. They even considered getting Michael Fassbender to play the role of The Hound of Ulster. However, for the most part, the rumors are pretty shallow and this is probably not happening.

Other than those two references, Cu Chulainn doesn’t really appear in much media outside from media specifically about him. He was a summon in Final Fantasy XII, a Persona in the Shin Megami Tensei series, and even a ritual summon card in Yu-Gi-Oh. However, unlike Norse and Greek myths, Celtic myths like Cu Chulainn tend to get forgotten in modern media. This is why Smite’s portrayal of Cu Chulainn and the entire Celtic pantheon is so important. Too often, games with mythological elements will stretch to try and find places for gods and heroes from more popular mythologies. Smite challenges that, making the game fit around the mythology, not the other way around. As a result, Smite presents the most diverse mythological roster on the market, and people who love mythology or are trying to learn more would be remiss not to at least try the game.

Thank you guys for reading! If you liked what you saw, consider giving me a follow here on my blog. I do my best to update regularly, so you’ll get notifications whenever I post a new article. Leave a comment below with anything you might have to add, as well as what you would like to see next!

Oh, and as promised, here is the link to that Irish linguistic video. See you guys next time!

Irish Linguistic Video