Lore of Anthem: Everything we know about the story so far

Anthem is an up-and-coming science fiction role-playing game (RPG) from BioWare, the company that brought players hits like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The majority of this brave new world is shrouded in mystery, but there's still plenty of information available for lore junkies to get their hands on ahead of the game's expected February 22 release date.

Here's what we know about Anthem's universe thus far.

The Beginning: The Shapers and Anthem of Creation

Long before the story of Anthem begins, the mysterious world that it takes place on (hinted to be called Mirrus by an official news post) was created by god-beings known only as the Shapers. To do this, they created special technology that could harness the power of a mystical, cosmic force called the Anthem of Creation. Once harnessed, this energy could then be used to create the planet, from its rocky earth to its sprawling rainforests, and everything between.

The Shapers' plan was to build this world in nine days, but on the third day of creation, something went awry. The Shapers mysteriously vanished, and their tech, now without maintenance and control, ended up reacting violently to the power of the Anthem of Creation. As a result, the creation process was halted, and the unfinished world entered a state of chaos, with the conflict between the Shapers' technology and the Anthem of Creation unleashing destructive cataclysms across the lands that threatened to tear apart what was already built.

Rise of Humanity: The Legion of Dawn carves out a future

One of the countless different forms of life created by the Shapers' initial creation effort was humanity. Humans in Anthem, like their Earth-based counterparts from other fiction, are intelligent and resourceful; however, compared to the various predators of Anthem's world, they are not on top of the food chain like they usually are. These vulnerabilities led to a dark period in history where humans constantly suffered from the dangers of the world and were on the edge of ruin.

However, one group of humans was able to save the species: the Legion of Dawn. Led by General Helena Tarsis, the Legion of Dawn captured pieces of Shaper technology and used them to create high-tech suits of armor called javelins. The javelins were incredibly expensive to make, so they were in short supply. However, they were also far more advanced than any human creation thusfar, and their powerful weaponry gave humanity the edge it needed against the world's threats.

After bringing humanity from the brink, the Legion of Dawn enabled the species to slowly begin spreading across the world, creating settlements and then fortifying them against outside danger. In time, a group of Legion members split off from the main force, eventually becoming known as the Freelancers. It is unknown what happened to the rest of the Legion afterward.

The Freelancers: Fighting for freedom

The Freelancers ended up creating and protecting Fort Tarsis, one of humanity's strongest settlements in the world and the place where players will begin the game. Like their predecessors, the Legion of Dawn, the Freelancers utilize javelins to defend humans and explore Anthem's territories. In the game, you'll take control of a Freelancer soldier, and you and your allies will be fighting two major enemies: the Scars and the Dominion.

The Scars are an alien race that arrived on the world of Anthem some time between the fall of the Shapers and the current era that the game takes place in. There's not much information available to learn about the Scars yet, but we know that their goal is to take control of the Shapers' technology and use it to control the Anthem of Creation. What they plan to do with it, however, is a complete mystery.

The other enemy faction, the Dominion, is an imperialistic and violent group of humans that intends to control the Anthem of Creation as well. Their plans, though, are well-known: They want to control all of humanity and rule it with an iron fist. Like the Freelancers, they too possess javelin technology. This makes them incredibly dangerous, and thus, they will be the primary antagonist of Anthem.

Your thoughts

What do you think of the lore of Anthem so far? Are you excited to see where the story goes? I'm interested to see if we learn more about the Anthem of Creation.

Anthem is expected to launch on February 22 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.