Ancestors

Ancestors are a concept in troll society. They are said to be responsible for contributing a greater proportion of their descendant's genes than the slurry from which troll eggs are produced. As such, ancestors typically serve as role models for adolescent trolls; each ancestor/descendant pairing sharing their blood colour, sign, horns, and other traits. Due to the nature of troll reproduction, the ancestors have usually been dead for centuries by the time a troll is born. However, this is not always the case, especially for particularly long-lived castes. Some young trolls believe that they are supposed to find clues about their ancestors, but others dismiss the idea as superstition.

In Homestuck, the main trolls are shown to frequently mirror the lives and relationships of their ancestors, most of whom were major figures in Alternia's history.

In Universe C, after the population of the universe grew too large for the members of the B2 session to rule them in the form of kingdoms, they departed and took up roles of observers. The Troll Kingdom would eventually develop into Neo-Alternia, and many of the concepts of troll society from the original iteration of the planet were reintroduced, albeit less heavy-handedly inforced.

As the method of ectobiological production was no longer needed as it was when kickstarting the population, trolls naturally returned to their original reproductive methods.Eventually, their monarchs would fade into esoteric myth and a self-governing troll society would entirely replace it, reintroducing the concept of ancestors.

Origins
The 12 Ancestors of the C2.1 session were created as wigglers by Rekkan in the ectobiological lab on a meteor in the Veil, alongside the 12 members of their own generation. The intricacies and scientific explanations of ectobiology are unknown, neither are the implications of relation via the method.

Although separate individuals with different personalities, several physical similarities between the two generations seem to indicate that dancestor pairs contribute the majority of the genetic material, if not all of it, just like with normal troll reproduction.

The scratch initiated in the C2.1 session would cause the Skaia defense portals to invert the universe iterations it sent these wigglers to by swapping the eras at which their meteors would arrive on Neo-Alternia, e.g. in C2.1 Rekkan and his generation of trolls would arrive in present day with the Ancestors arriving in the past whereas in C2.2 this would be the reverse.

Naming Conventions
The ancestors, like the trolls and kids, follow a naming scheme. All have an eight-letter title. Some of them have their titles changed at some point in their lives, usually to another eight-letter word.

Some of them have had their names revealed in addition to their titles. In Homestuck, for example, the narration once referred to The Handmaid's room as Damara's room, and a conversation between Tavros and Vriska implies that The Summoner's name was Rufioh. This evidence would suggest that all of the ancestors shared the names of their pre-scratch counterparts, the same way the pre-scratch guardians are shown to in Hiveswap. Whether this holds true for the pre-scratch ancestors, or the post-scratch kids' guardians, remains unclear.

Unlike on Alternia, Neo-Alternia does not as diligently prohibit research into one's own ancestors. However, even with that being the case, only Kipavo, Etamin, Lacail (most likely as a result of Etamin's decision) and eventually Shiira ever place any interest in their ancestors, although the others are made aware of them through explanations by Camila or interactions with their ancestor's post-scratch counterpart. Camila herself is seen to be aware of her ancestor but shuns her existence, a trait she naively continues when being made aware of the existence of Ketoma.

The Entroper
Post-scratch self is Typhon Orgaia, the Mage of Rage

The Entroper is the ancestor of Sorcim Orgaia. His meteor arrived some time during The Defector's planet-wide sea exploration. Unlike his descendant, he possessed enviable telekinetic powers, but shared his unparalleled disdain for the Highbloods. While begrudgingly living as an enslaved butler, he planned to usurp the Neo-Alternian throne while it lacked an Empress. During one particular night serving at the Imperial Ship, he overthrew the crew and claimed the 2x3 Dent, the royal birthright of the Empress. Unable by law to defy the one who holds it, the Highbloods had no choice but to bow to his tyrannical rule.

The Predator
Post-scratch self is Wezena Mirzam, the Sylph of Hope

The Predator is the ancestor of Latara Mirzam. Her life was best remembered by her bitter angst after she was betrayed by The Entroper, who attacked a lowblood subgrub using Imperial Drones while on a power trip. As one of the sole survivors of the attack, it is said that she wielded one of the construction tools of the burning subgrub as a resistance symbol and weapon, leading a charge of lowblood supporters to the returning Defector's cause.

The Ferryman
Post-scratch self is Patros Antlia, the Bard of Heart

The Ferryman is the ancestor of Pxyidi Antlia. He was originally a vagrant sailor and powerful psionic who would use his extensive knowledge of the Alternian seas to earn illegal money as a transport, being allowed to live as long as he delivered the dead across the water by orders of the Highbloods. This was until he was freed from that service by The Defector, promising his continued freedom if he joined her in her cause.

The Valescer
Post-scratch self is Arguso Gliese, the Heir of Life

The Valescer is the ancestor of Kipavo Gliese. He was one of many lowblood supporters of The Defector, who joined them in their attack against the corrupted Entroper. Spotting that her life was endangered by a stray arrow, he threw himself in front of it, sacrificing his life. However, he rose in a flash of lime, seemingly returning from the dead, much to onlookers' awe. Due to lack of accurate accounts, it is unknown if the arrow was truly a fatal shot or simply a wound that The Valescer could have survived, but his rise from sacrifice is what earned him his place in legend, as well as his title. This event also made the highbloods less willing to attack the rebellion, believing them to be protected by the divine.

The Bookkeep
Post-scratch self is Serrat Morous, the Page of Doom

The Bookkeep is the ancestor of Svenar Morous. Disgusted by the life of hunting that is supposed to encompass that of an oliveblood, The Bookkeep instead concealed his blood colour and became a hermit, running a library in which he would also document the history of the planet, as well as his own personal experiences. He was most active during the time of the Defector's rise in influence and her eventual reclamation and reorder of the troll social hierarchy, which he extensively catalogued along with his own thoughts. Despite seeming to survive the ordeal as he took no active part in the fighting or rebelling, days before The Entroper was defeated he was found in his attic and culled by a group of fleeing and desperate anachronistic highbloods, who in their haste left his book behind. His book would later be found by The Valescer, who became deeply interested in his writings until his own death.

The Nameless / The Galactic Sculptor
Post-scratch self is Kouroi Touris, the Seer of Space

The Nameless is the ancestor of Lacail Touris. Never chosen by a lusus when first escaping the brooding caverns, the Mother Grub (often in the presence of jadebloods) secretly took her under her wing, keeping her hidden from sight, and would eventually raise her to disguise among the other jadebloods who worked in the caverns while continuining to care for her in the shadows. She never claimed her own name, only ever taking assumptive names from those whose roles she would pretend to while in the caverns. During the usurped reign of The Entroper, she begrudgingly left her lusus behind in order to see the outside world for the first time before its potential downfall. At first scared, alone and in a place entirely unknown to her, she stared towards the sky for comfort and slept in abandoned beast dwellings. One night, while looking towards the sky, she saw the large silhouette of a winged creature with another troll riding atop its back.Curious as to what another lone troll would be doing and how he managed to tame the beast, he followed them until they landed. It was at this point she encountered The Draconid. Amazed by him in almost every way, she vowed to spread his image in exchange for allowing her to join him. He agreed, and she worked day and night learning to chisel statues, crafting them and leaving them in places of importance so that the silhouette in the sky would never be forgotten. It was from this task that she earned the title The Galactic Sculptor. It is known that she was given the name Virago after her passing, as a replacement for her lack of a birth name.

The Draconid
Post-scratch self is Savren Thuban, the Prince of Time

The Draconid is the ancestor of Etamin Thuban. Once a musician in a court of the highbloods, The Draconid had dreams of living beyond the sky. During one of his performances, he became overcome with the fact that he could never achieve this dream, and in anger smashed his instrument. As a punishment, the highbloods had his lusus killed and him exiled. While exiled, he came across an injured dragon beast, and after healing his wound the two began to bond. Seeing the lusus as a sign for a fulfillment of his dream, he rode the dragon in hopes of defeating the system that put the fates of those of lower blood in the hands of higher bloods. He would later be spotted by The Nameless and, enchanted by his image on the night sky, begged to join him in his quest, carving great statues of him and his dragon lusus companion in places of importance across the planet and even the galaxy.

The Violator
Post-scratch self is Alepou Ansere, the Thief of Blood

The Violator is the ancestor of Vulpec Ansere. He was born into a prestigious and morally questionable cerulean blooded family, and possessed powerful telepathic abilities, with which he would torture and harshly punish lowbloods as a form of interrogation for crimes, or in some cases simply for his own amusement. The rise of The Entroper was not much of a bother to The Violator, as it allowed him to continue his heinous practices unchecked. He would later be faced by The Redeemer in battle and lose due to the fact that his telepathic abilities did not affect high blood castes.

The Vigilant Squiress
Post-scratch self is Lynkaz Elvash, the Maid of Void

The Vigilant Squiress is the ancestor of Alscia Elvash. She was a notoriously loyal follower of The Agenting Conniver, although monikers such as 'lapdog' from the lowbloods would immediately result in their culling. During the reign of The Entroper, she followed her into a position of shadowing power; while The Entroper thrashed his power about wildly, they would secretly hold together factions of particularly transgressive highbloods that would take advantage of the commotion. She attempted to defend the palace during the rebellion but was defeated in battle by means of The Predator's symbolic weapon, which rose the morale of the rebel force considerably.

The Redeemer
Post-scratch self is Boreas Kyrize, the Knight of Breath

The Redeemer is the ancestor of Rekkan Kyrize. She was born into the highest of land-dwelling blood castes and from her wriggling day beared witness to countless tragedies of prejudice at the hands of those of her own blood colour, yet unable to act simply watched as they continued to happen. Internally angered by what she was forced to watch, yet putting on a complacent face, she trained tirelessly in covert weaponry as a way of taking out her inner feelings. Once the Defector refused her position as heir to the imperial empire, The Redeemer seized the chance and began to plan a means to act as a counter to the tyranny of the highbloods, and it was at this point she took the title of The Redeemer. During the events of the Entroper's terrible reign and The Defector's return to defeat it, The Redeemer worked internally, assassinating the worst figures in the highblood aristocracy, killing The Violator and playing a role in the defeat of both The Agenting Conniver and The Entroper himself.

The Agenting Conniver
Post-scratch self is Ketoma Nereid, the Witch of Mind

The Agenting Conniver, also known as The Fishwife, The Soulless and other infamously derogatory names, is the ancestor of Camila Nereid. She was the most ruthless of the violet blooded seadwellers, using her unique psychic powers to mutilate, mentally ravage and destroy those who opposed her, land and seadweller alike. Noticing the heiress' lack of ruling capability from a young age, she planned to usurp the throne from the shadows once she came to power. When the outcome became that the heiress outright refused the throne, her plans required reworking, and by the time she was prepared again, The Entroper had already stolen the 2x3dent and taken the throne for himself. Seeing this as a chance to rework her previous plan, her and her loyal squiress formed a number of highblood factions that would nefariously pull the strings from behind the scenes in ways that allowed them to fulfill their law breaking schemes. This was eventually dashed however once The Defector returned from her planet-wide campaign with a force of many followers in an attempt to destroy those in power. She herself would eventually be defeated at the hands of those heading the rebellion.

The Defector / The Princess
Post-scratch self is Phessa Maanen, the Rogue of Light.

The Defector's legend is one of the most frequently told across Neo-Alternia, and she is the ancestor of Shiira Maanen. Born as the heiress to the imperial throne of Neo-Alternia, after witnessing all that which it entails and also consuming a large amount of troll media while away from sight, once the age came for her to enter battle to see which fuschia blood would be superior, she not only killed the previous Empress but then refused the position herself, vowing to spread the message of how much she believed the system to be broken, unbalanced and subjugated across the planet, reaching the far corners of the planet by sailing across it. It was during which time that The Entroper claimed the 2x3dent, usurping monarchial control, which caused The Defector to have to return along with the followers she had amassed along the way in order to dissuade the rise of a potentially more dangerous threat. Once the war ended and most of the opposing highbloods and The Entroper defeated, the remaining parties signed a treaty and wrote a new troll constitution which would, in turn, create a less prejudiced and wicked structure of ruling (albeit still not to the peaceful degree demonstrated on Beforus).

Post-scratch ancestors
Not much is known in regards to post-scratch ancestors

Connections
While many of the relationships between the ancestors can also see parallels in those of their descendants, you can also see the lives of the ancestors relating to or resulting from the aspects they and their descendants are bound to.

Many of the ancestors have roles in their lives that derives from the roles of both their post-scratch counterparts as well as their descendants, such as:
 * Typhon is the Mage of Rage (active - "One who knows rage") which links to his shared hatred of highbloods. His role also links to Sorcim, the Page of Rage (active - "One who serves themselves with rage") as he essentially uses his rage to usurp power, thus forcing others to serve him.
 * Wezena is a Sylph of Hope (passive - "One who creates hope for others") which represents The Predator's role as a beacon of hope in the lowbloods from her subgrub and eventually those in the rebellion. Latara is the Knight of Hope (passive - "One who serves hope for the sake of others") as she follows the lowblood's symbol of hope, The Defector, into battle and brings with her the supporters she gathered.
 * Patros is a Bard of Heart (passive - "One who permits destruction of heart) which is symbolic of the fact that he allowed his passion to be destroyed by the wishes of others, as well as literally the hearts of others as he ferried the dead.
 * Kipavo and Arguso are both killed by another troll and revive on their Quest Cocoon, which reflects the act that The Valescer is renowned for. Arguso is the Heir of Life (passive - one who changes through life) as his image and that which he was remembered by was cemented by his return to life. Kipavo is the Prince of Life (active - one who destroys with life), as The Valescer had his resurrection become a tool with which the highbloods could be defeated more easily.
 * Much like his descendant, The Bookkeep was not a part of the main conflict of his story, instead being on the sidelines. Serrat as the Page of Doom (active - "One who serves themselves with doom") may come from the fact that The Bookkeep supplemented his time by writing the fates of many others in his recounts, and his link to Svenar as the Bard of Doom (passive - "One who permits destruction of doom") may suggest that the Bookkeep's writings would later come to influence decisions of the generations in the future.