Old Deus

The Old Deus (, Ōrudo Deusu) are the first ranked race of the Exceed. They consist of the old gods, who lost their status after The Great War, where Tet became the One True God. They are created and sustained by sentiments, concepts, desires and belief in their existence. For instance, Tet was created by Riku Dola's imagination and represents the concept of Play, while Artosh's creation was driven by people's desire for War. The lack of belief makes the old gods' demise possible if followed up by almost non-existant mortal perils. Artosh disappeared after his death at the hands of the Imanity - Ex-Machina alliance, bringing to pass the end of all wars.

Appearance
It has been remarked by Tet and Miko that while Old Deus can assume various avatar forms that resembles the lesser races such as Elf to Imanity, their true essence exists in the form of Ether. For instance, Horou's ether took the form of quill pen and ink bottle, while Okein's become the great forge of Harden Fell.

The avatar's appearance can either be similar to a giant like Artosh, or the height of a regular Imanitan. They mainly have a very diverse appearance between each other and may be very colorful.

Strengths
Belief: As gods, their power depends heavily on belief. An example would be during the Great War, due to the nature of bloodlust and hatred, Artosh become the mightiest member of the Old Deus. Even at 33% Artosh could match the other gods with ease as stated in Light Novel Volume 6.

Immortality: Being one of the top six races of the Exceed they are immortal and cannot be killed by natural causes.

Avatar Form: Old Deus can assume various forms to serve as their avatars beside their ethers, which Horou stated it being little more than puppet body. While they usually assume forms in their preferences, they are perfectly capable to assume certain individual's appearances, voice and even memories, as Horou assumed the form and voice of Sora during their brief talk on the red moon.

Absolute Power: Jibril has stated once that even if 200 Flugel were to band together, creatures who were created to kill the Old Deus, they would have an incredibly high chance of losing even against one.

Creations: Perhaps the greatest strength of Old Deus is the power to create an entire race, the majority of 16 races were created by Deities in their labors. Horou, a goddess who powers were hugely confined, was able to create a perfect clone of Stephanie Dola and programmed the clone to do her bidding.

The power of an Old Deus's creation is dependent on the power of the Old Deus. As stated by Azriel, Old Deus Artosh's creation of the closing number of Flugels was said to rival the power of even dragons; as shown by Jibril's felling of a Dragonia single handily. It can be assumed by this conversation that the power of a creation is dependant the power of the Old Deus and the number of creations he/she makes. For instance, since Jibril was created during the height of Artosh's power, she was single handily stronger than all previous Flugel and her power rivaled even that of a Dragonia. This also means that the weaker the Old Deus, the weaker the creation.

Weaknesses
Ether: The only way Old Deus can be killed is if their Ether is affected in some sort of way. Their physical appearances are merely avatars they choose to show to other species and their true essence is in the form of something else. The Old Deus themselves are able to kill themselves due to their Ether as shown with Holou if she had not been saved by Miko.

Spirit Circuits: The Old Deus were all born of Spirit Circuits therefore their power depends on them. When all Spirit Circuits were gone, all the Old Deus lost their power for a moment.

Belief: While it is their main source of strength, it is also their greatest weakness. An example shown would be Holou, she had absolutely no belief to the point of even wanting to scoop out her ether.

History
The Old Deus were the ones who launched The Great War to fight over the title of the One True God, using their creations as weapons, such as the Flügel, to kill other gods. The gods eventually lost their will to continue warring as they died needlessly without enjoying their lives. Tet emerged above the Old Deus as he was the only god who had abstained from the war, and became the One True God.

Form of Government
The Old Deus have no form of government as even after they lost to Tet and ascended to the status of an Old Deus, they never banded together and some co-existed with their creations and others went missing. In fact, a representative was never even announced until Sora and Shiro told Holou to act as their representative.