The Ancients are a technologically advanced race that is central to the Might and Magic series. They are thought to have been present from the very beginning of time, using the technology of Elemental Manipulation to create completely viable ecological and social microcosms through experimentation. In doing so, they created VARN, CRON, Terra, Xeen, Enroth and Axeoth; the various settings of the series. They appear to be capable of directly influencing these worlds and even outright colonizing them, but each game in the series presents a challenge to their goals.
There are two important eras for the ancients: Before the Silence (BS) and After the Silence (AS).
Before the Silence[]
The Ancients and their vast empire of colonized planets had long ago entered into a new age of golden civilization; thousands of worlds prospered and flourished under their guidance, with advanced communication technology maintaining a connection to all parts of the colonized cosmos, allowing them to coordinate their vast holdings and ensure that none went unseen or unheard in their plights.
They created powerful weaponry via advanced fabrication machines, such as the legendary Heavenly Forge, and flew spaceships through the cold, open void. They also maintained large portals to different worlds in their empire, allowing for instantaneous travel from one planet to another. This time in history is referred to as the "Time of Wonders" by most intelligent lifeforms who knew of the Ancients and their grand empire.
After the Silence[]
Following the attacks of the demonic, resource draining Kreegan, many people across the empire began to rebuild their lives, each following generation forgetting its heritage and the need for communication with the Ancients as their remaining technology began to degrade, becoming defective or outright useless. The technology of the Ancients was eventually lost, seen mainly as simple myths on most planets while others acknowledge that they did indeed exist, as proof exists in their remaining relics. (blasters, Lincoln). All Might & Magic titles post-date the Silence, following a world at a point in its history where the time of the Ancients has long since been forgotten.
Appearances of the Ancients after the Silence[]
Might and Magic I-V[]
Here, the Guardian Corak has crashlanded with a ship most likely of Ancient design, losing his prisoner, the corrupted Guardian Sheltem. Both Corak and Sheltem are in fact androids built by the Ancients. Sheltem flees through several worlds, taking on several guises before he is finally brought down by the self-destruction mechanism of Corak.
Might and Magic VI[]
The Oracle of Enroth, Tomb of VARN, the Planetary Control Center along with the blasters and the control cube were all contraptions of the Ancients; relics created by them to oversee and protect their creations.
Might and Magic VII[]
In the introductory cutscene, we see a group of people wearing wetsuits and small black boxes around their chests. They are the party of adventurers from Terra from Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra, who pursued the warring Guardians aboard an Ancient spaceship named The Lincoln which has crashed on the planet Enroth's ocean near the continent Antagarich instead of reaching their destination on XEEN. As soon as they emerge from the sunken spaceship onto this unknown planet, they argue then split off into two smaller rival parties who travel to the courts of either Gavin Magnus or Archibald where they look to either rebuild and reactivate an Ancient Gate to reach the Ancients, or reactivate the Ancient Heavenly Forge to mass produce Ancient blasters and equip an army to conquer the planet. If you choose the good side then you will see a cutscene with Corak upon completing the game.
Might and Magic VIII[]
In the introductory cutscene, you see a man who conjures a large crystal out of the ground. He is Escaton, "The Destroyer of Worlds", an Ancient Guardian, just like Corak and Sheltem, whose purpose is to destroy every Ancient world invaded by the Kreegan. Even though he is aware that the Kreegan invasion has already been defeated by the planet's natives, he cannot stop himself from obeying his programming since the Ancients didn't expect their isolated colonies after the Silence to defeat Kreegan invasions on their own, they didn't think of programming Escaton to abort his routine if it has become pointless, which is why he did imprison the Elemental Lords in order to drive unguided elementals to rampage however he helps you to stop him from pointlessly destroying your world since he cannot stop himself, he grants you the keys to free the Elemental Lords to stop the elementals' rampage. Upon release, the Elemental Lords destroy Escaton's Crystal Palace which causes his pocket dimension to collapse without its container then he sends a final message to its Ancient masters to tell them that he failed obeying his orders...which was the last time that the Ancients were ever mentioned in the series since Might and Magic IX: Writ of Fate abandoned the original series' intrigue and diverged into viking mythology instead. Since Might and Magic VIII concludes with Escaton warning the Ancients of his defeat, then the logical sequel would have been the coming of the Ancients to Enroth where Escaton called them, however 3DO decided otherwise and abandoned the Ancients' story which was never continued to this day... Although another game from New World Computing released in 1991 titled Planet's Edge: The Point of No Return is about humankind's first steps beyond Earth in a space-faring quest to explore the Void which might or might not be the start of the empire of the Ancients as the Ancients are always pictured as space-faring humans...