The Fifth Essence: Planet DiFool is the second part of the sixth issue of The Incal, and marks the end of the first volume of The Incal saga. In this issue John deals with his offspring in the planet Orgargan, goes back to Terra to defeat the Darkness once an for all, and ends up facing the ultimate supreme being.
It was published in 1988 by Les Humanoïdes Associés. It was written by Alejandro Jodorowsky, illustrated by Moebius and colored by Zoran Janjetovt.
Plot[]
78 Billion in 1[]
Upon arriving to Orgargan DiFool is escorted by the Berg Fleet, but leave him alone once they see his face. John quickly realizes that everyone in the planet looks like him and that they hate him, because he's, in fact, their Protofather. These “clones” of John (called “jondiffs” by the now ostracized Bergs) hate the Protofather because the Protoqueen hates John. DiFool tries to preach the message of the Theta Dream but they all ignore him. He eventually gets arrested when Gorgo snitches on him, and people discover he has a navel.
Cross[]
John showing his navel to the jondiffs.
A jondiff tribunal unanimously condemns John to be castrated in the city’s central square. However Deepo has an idea to save him: he explains to the Protoqueen that he didn’t actually fall in love with DiFool, but to the sublime light inside him which was the Incal, and since she’s never loved him, she can’t hate him either. The Protoqueen reconsiders her position and appears as Animah in the castration ceremony to stop it. She forgives DiFool, and reassures her children saying that they’re the miraculous children of the Incal. She and Deepo even convince Gorgo that he has a human-like big and pure heart, and shouldn’t feel alienated. The Orgargan planet agrees to enter the Theta Dream.
The Circles of Nightmare[]
The Seven go back to Terra, to the Incal’s cradle, whose shaft’s appearance has changed thanks to the children’s dreams and guidance of the Arhats. The Seven arrive to the Portal of Transfiguration. The united Incal prepares to absorb the Theta Dream energy generated by the entire human race in the two galaxies. The Seven enter the Theta dream itself, and they’re transported to null-time and null-space to confront the Darkness.
They enter the first circle, where they start hallucinating nightmares concocted by the Darkness to feed on their inner terror, with the exception of John, whose experience with the Protoqueen has made him immune, the Incal chooses him as his channel once again, and “wakes up” the rest making them realize that the nightmares are only part of themselves that they are afraid to face. Next, they enter the second circle of the deepest slumber. The Darkness attacks the Incal itself, so the Incal demands the energy of all Seven Companions to survive. They all give their energies, with the exception of John, who wants to remains himself. Suddenly a voice is heard declaring that Difool is a prisoner of himself, but that thanks to the sacrifice of the rest, the Light is pushing through the heart of the darkness. The Incal starts to mutate, reaching the core of the Darkness. John discovers that the core of the Darkness was actually made of light, and that the great Darkness has now banished forever.
Orh talking to John.
The presence reveals his identity: he is Orh, the eternal light, he was sent to create that time and that space. He explains that the Darkness was the negative force that had accumulated in the human soul and that obfuscated him, and that the great Darkness was a much a part of himself as the Light. Orh had sent the Incal to banish the Darkness. He had once created this universe but is now time to un-create it. Orh absorbs the Incal, becoming the new light, the creator of a new universe, and he takes the form of a giant new-born baby. Orh informs DiFool that a new space and a new time has been created, and that John has been chosen as the Eternal Witness of this event. John exclaims that he understands, that he sees the beauty and the truth, and asks Orh to allow him to become one with Orh’s pure consciousness. However, Orh declines: John Difool must live again in order to learn. DiFool is returned back to the beginning, falling down the Suicide Alley, trapped in a seemingly eternal loop until he “learns to remember”.
Other Issues[]
- The Black Incal (1981)
- The Luminous Incal (1982)
- What Lies Beneath (1984)
- What is Above (1985)
- The Fifth Essence: The Dreaming Galaxy (1988)
- The Fifth Essence: Planet DiFool (1988)