Lavos (Destructive actions)

Inquiry

Why did Lavos destroy Zeal in 12000 B.C., and then gut the world in 1999 A.D.? What prevented him from destroying the world fully in the past?

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. This also allowed the planet to serve as his spawning grounds without interruption; he subsequently reproduced asexually at Death Peak, where the spawns roamed. Eventually, after absorbing a certain amount of power, they were to leave the planet and seek out other targets in the galaxy. This process was interrupted when history was changed so that they never existed.

From: Common Questions