Inquiry
Why did Lavos destroy Zeal, then wait to attack the world in 1999 A.D.?
Answer
Zeal was significantly draining his power through the Mammon Machine; when the device was moved to the bottom of the ocean floor, the leeching was sufficient to cause concern for Lavos, who obliterated the perpetrators. In 1999 A.D., human civilization was probably nearing a level of technology that could possibly challenge Lavos. Also, it is probably that a few hundred years down the road, Chronopolis might come to pass (or another temporal research facility that could strike Lavos with a time-based strategy). Lavos destroyed humanity at this moment in order to prevent any possible threats. However, unlike the case in Zeal, where Lavos only had to destroy a floating country, here Lavos exploded the entire surface of the planet to completely render civilization derelict.
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Inquiry
Can Lavos's power be compared to real life units?
Answer
1.) In 65 million BC, Lavos impacted the surface of the earth at meteoric speed, creating a fireball that covered most of the continent and caused a global climactic change that lasted for millions of years. This explosion is similar to the K-T Meteor impact, which is estimated to have released energy equivalent to 100 trillion Tons of TNT.
For comparison, the most powerful hydrogen bomb ever produced had a yield of 50 million Tons, and the total world nuclear arsenal has a combined yield of approximately 5 billion Tons. The explosion of Krakatoa, the most violent volcanic eruption in recorded history, released energy equivalent to 200 million Tons.
Lavos, a biological organism, survived this impact with no apparent injury.
2.) In 1999 AD, Lavos destroyed the surface of the earth in preparation for reproduction. It caused sufficient damage to destroy human civilization and significantly change the geography of the planet. This required several orders of magnitude more energy than was released in Lavos' impact, which was produced (presumably) by its magical power alone.
3.) Lavos also destroyed the Zeal Kingdom, the Black Omen and Magus' Castle (?) using magic attacks equivalent to many millions of Tons of TNT.
