Guthix

Guthix (pronounced "GUTH-icks") is the God of Balance and the first god to have arrived on Gielinor, shaping it. "The way of Guthix" entails as much as acquiring balance, resulting in Equilibrium. He holds no other goal. However, this does not demand "maintaining the status quo", yet this does make his views more complicated, as with many things in his teachings.

He is good, evil, or neutral, determined by which side is unbalanced and the situation. According to Guthix, "I canst speak not for other deities of this land, but from me thou receive only the self satisfaction that thy cause is true, and that balance will be served by thine decision." which at least heavily implies that he grants his worshipers no special Prayers or powers in exchange for following him, unlike some of the other deities, such as Saradomin (e.g. regular prayers), Seren (e.g. Crystal equipment), and Zaros (e.g. Ancient Magicks and Ancient Curses).

A misconception about Guthix is that he is the god of peace and/or tranquility. This is false, however, as he is only the god of balance. And balance does not necessarily mean peace - as may be evidenced by the Void Knights. However, when talking to the player in The World Wakes, Guthix states that he is a pacifist.

Description and powers
Guthix appears mostly as a floating, hairy skull, as portrayed in the Postbag. However, Guthix is a shapeshifter, and is able to take the form of anything he desires. He was said to take the form of a butterfly often during the First Age, and when the first humans arrived, Guthix appeared to them in human form. Guthix has no real god symbol (as stated in the Postbag). However, the emblem most commonly associated with him is the Tear of Guthix, originally devised by the snake Juna and later adapted by other followers of Guthix.

A seemingly more primal power than most other known gods, Guthix has claimed once that, "I exist because I must exist; if I did not, then I would be created again, for the universe requires balance in all things." Guthix is also capable of opening permanent inter-dimensional gateways between two separate planes of existence for entire races to travel through, enchant steel blades to become specially effective weapons against demonic entities (as he did with Silverlight), and his tears were able to resurrect the slain cave goblin Zanik. However, though responsible for the arrival of humans upon Gielinor, Laura claims that he was "keen to point out" that he didn't create them. Guthix has claimed in the God Letters to be capable of affecting future events themselves should he wish it, but also adds he does not do so because such an act would disrupt the natural balance.

Its motto is: "Balance is Power". A good example of how this motto plays into the game is in Castle Wars and Soul Wars, when a player picks the Guthix Portal. When this happens, the player sides with the side with the least players and effectively equals the teams, hence the saying, "Balance is Power".

History
Guthix was originally a member of a now-extinct race known as the Naragi. They were a peaceful race with little to no warriors. One day, the Naragi diviners detected a disturbance in the city of Askroth - a portal to another world was opening. When the portal opened, a blue giant came through, to be greeted by a welcoming committee the Naragi had set up. Apparently, they did something to anger him, so he slaughtered them and razed Askroth to the ground. A fortress was built on the city's ruins and the giant's armies spewed forth from it. A God War had begun on Guthix's homeworld.

The war which destroyed much, including Guthix's neighbors and family. This influenced Guthix to form the belief that worlds must exist in peace, without the constant interference of gods. A balanced world.

It is unknown how long the war lasted, but near the end, when his world was in ruins, Guthix, who was hiding with his daughter Aagi, witnessed a battle between a godlike boar and the blue giant, godlike Boar known to the Naragi as Tuska, as well as the (presumably) Goblins that followed her.

The blue giant eventually abandoned the plane, and another God, Skargaroth, engaged Tuska in battle. Tuska gored him with her horns, causing him to drop a powerful sword that crackled with energy. Skargaroth collapsed onto Guthix's home, killing his daughter who was hidden inside. Guthix, angered, took up the the God's sword injure the boar and stabbed the elder god in the back. The sword absorbed Skargaroth's power and transferred it to him. It was at this point that Guthix was mortal no more, but became a fully-fledged god Himself.

After many centuries of wandering, Guthix discovered Gielinor, the last, perfect creation of the Elder Gods, along with the Stone of Jas. It was here that he realised what he believed to be his purpose; to create a world free of the influence of Gods. He opened the World Gate and Portal of Life to bring forth peaceful races that did not tend towards good or evil, and who had no concept of Gods - these included Humans, Gnomes, Dwarves, Fairies, and Fairy Dragons among others. This marked the beginning of the First Age.

At some point during this time, the Goddess Seren arrived in Gielinor as well, and the two became very close friends. After realising that mortals were starting to worship him, Guthix went into a deep sleep, hoping to be forgotten by all, thus marking the beginning of the Second Age. The worship of Guthix mostly died out as other Gods arrived onto the plane and their influence grew. Guthix did not emerge again until the end of the Third Age, the God Wars, when Zamorak's destruction of Forinthry caused him to awake.

To stop the wars, Guthix laid down his edicts and banished the Gods from the world, creating a magical barrier to keep them out. They would no longer be allowed to influence the world directly, except through their followers; they would have to isolate their wars to the God realms. However, Gielinor was forever changed from Guthix's original vision; Forinthry was forever scarred, becoming what is now called the Wilderness. Many races that were brought in to fight in the War, and who did not care for balance remained in Gielinor, and despite the banishment of the Gods, mortals continued to worship them. After sealing the Stone of Jas away in a hidden temple, Guthix, feeling great sorrow for the world he had shaped and loved so, descended again to slumber. But first, he paused to survey Gielinor's ravaged state, and wept. Upon realising his tears had imbued the stone nearby with magical properties, he assigned Juna to guard them and to judge who would be worthy to pass. He returned to sleep once more, and would not be heard from again until the end of the Fifth Age.

Obliteration
After thousands of years existing as the very thing he fought against, Guthix longed for death, to be reunited with his people which he missed so very much. Eventually, Guthix would get his wish. In the year 169 of the Fifth Age, the archaeologist and explorer Orlando Smith uncovered what transpired to be Guthix's original resting place, which with the help of a renowned adventurer, was accessed after millennia untouched. This sparked off a series of events that culminated in Guthix's demise, at the hands of the Zarosian Mahjarrat Sliske with the legendary Staff of Armadyl. Before he died, Guthix told his tale to the adventurer, his new and last Guardian, and left the defence of Gielinor against the younger gods in their hands, so as to avoid the destruction of the world.

With Guthix slain, the Edicts he had established to keep the gods out of Gielinor were nullified, allowing the young deities to once again step foot in the world - with Saradomin being the first - and essentially ushering a new, uncertain Age.

Religion
Guthix is the god of balance, meaning that he values a balance between chaos and order, although many player followers of Guthix tend to favour the path of chaos and destruction (Zamorak) or order and wisdom (Saradomin). Guthix wishes to keep the gods out of Gielinor, preferring for the world to be a place where mortals can live without the interference of gods. Although Guthix states he has no religious symbol, modern worshipers use the Tear of Guthix as his symbol. In issue 25 of the God Letters, Guthix also mentions he has an ancient symbol which is yet to be rediscovered: "It is not entirely beyond the realms of possibility that some day my ancient symbol may be rediscovered, but I hold no desire that it should be so."

Groups and races

 * Druids - Followers of the God of Balance found in Taverley and in the Fist of Guthix minigame.
 * Seers - A group of humans who are often considered prophets.
 * Fremennik - A group of mostly militant humans.
 * Moon Clan - A group of magically and telepathically gifted humans.
 * Void Knights - Protectors of Gielinor, found at the Void Knight Outpost.
 * Gnomes- A small humanoid race that deal closely with nature.
 * Dwarves - Another small humanoid race of miners.
 * Imcando dwarfs - Special race of dwarves, the only known survivors being Ramarno and Thurgo.
 * Crux Eqal - Underground group of Druids, fighting the Mahjarrat threat.
 * Fairies - Small flying humanoids.
 * Giant Ents - Familiars used in the Summoning Skill ( and possible all familiars as they are summoned by druids)
 * Moss Giants - A species of Giant which are shown to support Guthix
 * Fauna - animals of Gielinor
 * Automatons -  Creations balanced between nature and technology
 * Flora - plants of Gielinor

Notable individuals

 * Filliman Tarlock - Nature Spirit in Morytania
 * Queen of Snow - an NPC from the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Christmas events who was created by Guthix
 * Juna - a Guardian of Guthix who guards the Tears of Guthix in the Lumbridge Swamp Caves
 * Fiara - a Guardian of Guthix who overlooks the Fist of Guthix minigame.
 * Balance Elemental - a creation of Guthix, appointed by Guthix to guard Stone of Jas
 * Valluta - a Guardian of Guthix, She was appointed by Guthix to guard the veil between worlds and protect Gielinor from otherworldly threats, especially The Void.
 * Thaerisk Cemphier - leader of Crux Eqal
 * Cres - a Guardian of Guthix and the leader of automatons, appointed by Guthix to guard his chamber
 * Spider Queen - Queen of Spiders, from the 2009 Halloween Event, she says that it is against the laws of Guthix for the Grim Reaper to clean up cobwebs at Halloween.
 * Hazelmere - legendary gnome who was a key political and military figure in the early days of the Gnome Stronghold.
 * Sanfew - leader of the druids in Taverley.
 * Jack - founder of the Wizard's Guild. Met during Meeting History.
 * Sarah - founder of the Herblore skill. Met during Meeting History.
 * Phoenix - a firebird.
 * Kaqemeex - chairman of CARE and seller of the Herblore cape.
 * Grim Reaper - the main character of the Hallowe'en events. His robes, scythe, bones and cobwebbed-house are all stated to be mandatory in the Edicts of Guthix. Also known as Death
 * Brassica Prime - the god of cabbage
 * Chaeldar - a Slayer Master
 * Nomad - a powerful mage and worrior who worked with Lucien
 * The Player- becomes a Guardan of Guthix during the World Wakes

Animals associated with Guthix
 * Sheep (Supposedly the first race brought to Gielinor)
 * Cat (Supposedly the second race brought to Gielinor)
 * Guthix raptor
 * Wolves (except Dire Wolves which are associated with Seren)
 * Snakes
 * Bears

Guthix Prayer items

 * Book of balance
 * Illuminated Book of Balance
 * Guthix vestments
 * Guthix crozier
 * Guthix mitre
 * Guthix stole
 * Guthix cloak
 * Druid robes
 * Guthix halo
 * Third-age druidic equipment

Guthix Magic items

 * Guthix staff
 * Guthix cape
 * Druidic mage robes
 * Void Knight equipment
 * Void knight mace
 * Third-age magic equipment

Guthix melee items

 * Guthix mjolnir
 * Silver sickle (b)
 * Guthix full helm
 * Guthix platebody
 * Guthix plateskirt
 * Guthix platelegs
 * Guthix kiteshield
 * Void knight mace
 * Silverlight/Darklight
 * Korasi's sword
 * Third-age melee equipment

Guthix Ranged items

 * Guthix coif
 * Guthix body
 * Guthix chaps
 * Guthix vambraces
 * Guthix arrows
 * Guthix bow
 * Third-age ranged equipment

Fist of Guthix items
Note that technically, all items from the Fist of Guthix minigame are either Guthix or Jas affiliated items. These include:
 * Combat robes
 * Adamant berserker shield
 * Adamant spikeshield
 * Rune berserker shield
 * Rune spikeshield
 * Gauntlets

Guthix miscellaneous items

 * Guthix rest
 * Guthix balance
 * Guthix's gift

Guthix's relationships with other gods

 * Guthix seems to have a clause in the Edicts to allow for the gods to interact with their followers as it is not considered direct intervention. This is known through the dialogue with Juna after the completion of The Chosen Commander. Guthix would not, however, tolerate the gods on Gielinor itself, and is shown in The World Wakes to prefer that the gods had no interaction with mortals at all.
 * Bandos describes Guthix as "evil", but as with all gods, the nature of the subjectively perceived "good" and "evil" lies in their alignment. Bandos might well consider Guthix evil since he has obstructed Bandos' capability of waging war on/in Gielinor - with the implementation of the Edicts of Guthix, banning many gods.
 * Saradomin calls him foolish, since he lets Zamorak keep his influence on the inhabitants of Gielinor. In Saradomin's reasoning, this is foolish because the chaos that Zamorak is after will not only create the aforementioned chaos itself, but also a form of un-balance, thus Guthix will undermine his own purpose. However, after Guthix's death, Saradomin showed much sorrow and fear, as he claims Guthix is very similiar to himself, wishing for Gielinor to remain a world of order and law. Now that Guthix is gone, Zamorak may return with full force.
 * Zamorak in his turn sees Guthix (and Saradomin for that matter) as cowards that dislike battle, who are also dull. Moreover, he thinks Guthix (and his herblore) is pathetic. Lastly, he thinks that he is weird, since he can shapeshift into any form he pleases, and (probably) does not choose the most appealing forms, like a multicoloured butterfly or a rock. After Guthix's death, Zamorak is no longer safe from Zaros's vengeance, one of his greatest fears.
 * The nature of his relationship with Zaros, can be indirecly 'known' through the dialogue with Juna where she says that the return of Zaros might well aid the Equilibrium - after the completion of The Temple at Senntisten quest. Though, Guthix said himself not knowing the existence of Zaros, this forementioned relationship might thus well be Juna's interpretation of Guthix's will.
 * There is some debate (see the Talk:Guthix) about the nature of the relationship between Guthix and Seren. However, according to Guthix's memories. Seren, the second goddess to come to Gielinor after Guthix himself, and him were close friends. They both had many things in common such as peace and balance in nature.
 * It appears that the Desert pantheon or Menaphite Pantheon is not affected by the Edicts of Guthix, they might not even pose a threat to the Equilibrium, since their individual power has only little effect on Gielinor's arrow of time.

Disputed alignment
In the "Lore Live Stream with Mods Mark and Osborne", see here, a question was asked about the alignment of Zaros. While introducing this question, the questioner said that the alignments for Guthix, Zamorak and Saradomin were: Balance, Chaos and Order - respectively. Before answering the question about Zaros, Mod Mark said that they are not necessarily agreeing with the ascribed alignments of Guthix, Zamorak and Saradomin - saying nothing further about the topic.

Trivia

 * Entering the word "murder" or "redrum" in the notes section results in the message "All rest and no play makes Guthix a dull boy." This is a reference to a famous line used in the movie "The Shining", based on the novel by Stephen King; "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."