Slay the Spire is a deckbuilding, roguelike card game developed by indie studio Mega Crit Games. Popular for its tight and addictive gameplay as well as its interesting world, thousands of players still play the game more than two years after its initial release. There have been quite a few updates to the game, including new characters and items, but despite all this, little is currently known about the game's lore.

Still, the game does include a variety of clues that indicate there is more going on than is immediately obvious to players who solely focus on the game's combat and mechanics. Let's take a look at these hints, as well as put forward a little bit of educated speculation about Slay the Spire's characters, their apparent allies and enemies, and the nature of the Spire itself.

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The Spire

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The Spire itself is an obvious area of interest in this world, as it's never made explicit what the Spire is and why players are trying to slay it. The Spire's nature is still largely a mystery, with one in-game reference describing it as of unknown origin, but there are references to something known as "Spireblight" affecting the world within in the game. This suggests that a sort of disease or decay can spread to things influenced by the Spire. As such, the playable characters may be trying to destroy the Spire to halt the progress of this Spireblight across the land.

However, this sort of noble mission does not seem to align exactly with the atmosphere of the game, nor the personalities of the characters within it. While Spireblight does certainly seem to be a phenomenon, the NPC Neow (who first greets the characters as they enter the Spire) may be able to shed more light on why these characters climb the Spire again and again trying to destroy it.

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Neow

Neow

A pale, whale-like creature with three yellow eyes, Neow is not your ordinary quest-giver. Described as an Ancient, which could  mean one of the first gods or magical creatures of the world of Slay the Spire, it is said that Neow was exiled to the bottom of the Spire. Whether Neow was exiled from higher up the Spire or somewhere entirely different is unknown, however she seems to hold a personal hatred for the Spire, perhaps because it is her prison.

Neow sends adventurers up the Spire to try and settle this grudge for her, often to their deaths. Then, she uses her powers of resurrection to bring them back to life and send them up once more. One excerpt within the game says that, "Those resurrected by Neow remember only fragments of their past selves, cursed to fight for eternity." This explains why players know so little about the Ironclad, Watcher, Defect and Silent, as these playable characters know so little about themselves. Over and over again, they die and are reborn, all apparently as part of Neow's bid to finally destroy the Spire.

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The Playable Characters

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We do know a few things about Slay the Spire's playable characters. Ironclad is a warrior who made a deal with demons to become powerful. He is said to be the last of his tribe. From the fragments of memory revealed by the Sensory Stone, these two things seem to be related, as the demons are suggested to have been the ones who killed off the rest of Ironclad's tribe.

Watcher is a monk-type character, a blind ascetic who has come to assess the Spire. From the Watcher's memories, she seems to be devoid of emotion, simplying follows her assignments. Defect is very different from the others. An ancient combat automaton that has somehow become self-aware, Defect's desire to enforce balance seems to have been influenced by Neow towards her own ends.

Lastly, Silent, a rogue of sorts who uses poisons and agility to eliminate her foes. Like the Watcher, she too has been sent to the Spire, however as part of some sort of ritual or test rather than to simply observe. Whatever their original aims, it seems as though each of these characters has since become trapped in Neow's desire for revenge against the Spire.

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Enemies

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There are a variety of enemies in Slay the Spire, from tiny, low-level slimes to massive, horrifying bosses. Though little can be determined from most of these enemies, the presence of slavers suggests that the Spire's function as some sort of prison is not too far-fetched. The other monsters, elites and bosses are of such a large variety, including one enemy that is literally just a giant head, that it's hard to deduce much from their inclusion, other than perhaps the Spire has spanned ages and vast areas during its existence.

The final boss does reveal more about Slay the Spire's lore, however. The Corrupt Heart, as it is called, seems to be the actual life-force of the Spire, because, after defeating the Corrupt Heart, Neow says "Has it been done? The Spire sleeps and so shall I." This suggests that the Spire is in some way sentient, but also that it was not always something corrupt or evil. The corruption and resulting Spireblight might be something that happened to the Spire, and so Neow's quest against the Spire is perhaps not entirely selfish.

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