A very deep and thoroughly thought out theory about the existence and purpose of the Asterite for the Ecco games, not to be taken too seriously at every part though!
This theory is a common project written by Arkonviox and Soleila. It contains our knowledge and all the ideas, impressions and conclusions about a mysterious being called The Asterite which we know from the famous Ecco games created by Ed Annunziata. The results of our work are based on our own thoughts, agreements and logical analyses and we hope that the following text will help the interested readers to get a vague imagination of Asterite's lifeform and will open new ways to answer the ancient question of purpose, meaning and history of this strange and fascinating creature. Enjoy reading!
Looking at the Asterite it is easy to notice that there is a resemblance between it and a DNA-strand. Asterite is moving in a double helix, consists of two single chains of colored globes and both of these chains are revolving around each other. The 2D-graphics of the game make it hard to see this significant shape but if you take a look at it in the official 3D-videos of the Sega CD-version you can easily recognice that its movement represents a completely perfected helix scheme that truly reminds to DNA. Another point is that Asterite's globes have four different colors. With these colors - green, blue, red and brown - the game creators wanted to show further similarities because they symbolize the four DNA bases - guanine, cytosine, adenine and thymine. The reason for this resemblance could be interpreted as follows: A DNA-strand is the basic form of life, the simplest and most original component of every creature. The Asterite is the highest-developed being that lives and its simple design shows that evolution reachs the ultimate level when it moves back to the beginning. The double helix is a symbol for eternity, completeness, progress and balance and thus we suppose that Asterite is origin and perfection at a time, a static existance with a deep and important meaning for all.
The Asterite is an unknown alien creature that consists of 24 pairs of globes that float in two collums and revolve around each other in a double helix shape. The name Asterite can be translated to 'descendant of the stars' when you part the two Greek syllables and regard the fact that nearly every word with 'aster' has something to do with space. Thus we suppose that it was born in universe and we also believe that it's not the only one of its kind, belongs to a whole civilisation and was created by a mother-being which we call the Source Asterite - an ultimate lifeform that watchs over the universe and controls time, evolution and existance. Travelling to Earth as some sort of a student, it followed its need to hide itsself in deep and narrow underwater caves and to live in a static state of peace and eternal silence. Asterite did not move from one place to another since it came to our planet, in the depths of the past it preferred to be left alone and experienced a long and complicated development process.
As everything else in universe, the Asterite both exists in the real world and at a time neutral place which we call the Tesseract. Any lifeform is there in a condensed space but only the Asterite is aware of this and has a connection to this place. No matter if it's unconcious or if it's active, it's always connected to the Tesseract and we found several proofs for this in the game:
Regarding the Asterite we can see that its globes are not connected to each other. A telepathic force field might be the reason and even if it is connected to the Tesseract, it is able to generate power on its own and channels it as we can see in the level Dark Water where it attacks Ecco with lightnings. Because it only consists of these globes and because we cannot see another lifeforce, we recognized that the globes are the only solid component that builds up its body. They have four different colors and we guess that these colors both support the design of the DNA symbol and represent different tasks. Another proof for that is also shown in Dark Water. As soon as three globes of one kind are hit, the fourth one of the same color would get lost when it's hit too. A fanfic suggested defence, memory, movement and sense as tasks but we are not sure about this because we know that even a minimum of two globes is able to communicate and to create a new living creature that can act. The globes also move in a certain pattern which could have an important meaning too but before we start to speculate about this, we rather call it something that can't be found out completely. Asterite's main intention is completeness and only in completeness, which means that every globe is at the right place, it is able to use its full power. Its quest for balance leads to an everlasting monotonous movement which it never wants to leave and its existance is not bound on usual restrictions a human or an animal would have to regard. It neither needs to eat nor does it need to breathe. Proofs for this are its ability to travel through space for several million years (we don't suppose that it used a spaceship) or the level Globeholder where its disconnected pair of globes survived its prison for a very long time. We also believe that it is immortal, the globes cannot be destroyed by a hostile force like the Queen for example and it also does not die during millions or even billions of years on Earth or in universe. It either can become very old or it just lives forever. Its lifeform is extremely high developed, it studies and learns for ages and is able to save and retain the knowledge of eternity.
Of course we do not know which kind of abilities the Asterite truly has but we can see that it seems to learn new ones when it gets older or when it experiences different situations. Basically it is recognisable that it is able to channel its own energy and to project it to a certain place. Thus it attacked with lightnings during the battle against Ecco in prehistoric times. We also suppose that it was much weaker in this timeline and that it evolved alot in its long life. It's important to say that only a completed Asterite can use its highest power level and only then it is able to help Ecco fighting the Vortex. Because of its own static existance and its primary will to avoid any interventions, it projects its power into another creature to give it the chance to become stronger and nearly immortal. Projecting itsself into Ecco gave the dolphin the ability to survive without air and to let wounds heal on their own. Maybe Asterite can even see through Ecco's eyes using such a connection and only this strange kind of authorization made it possible for Ecco to fight the Queen and to save his pod. When the Asterite unleashes its energy, it moves faster and we suppose that the speed of its movement represents the level of the power it sets free. To channel it in such a way, it needs to be prepared and it also needs every single globe. If only one is missing, it is too weak for these actions but we also believe that it increased its power during several million years. In the far future it has new abilities like creating metaspheres that allow time travel and the conversion into other lifeforms. Time travel metaspheres work like black holes and we suppose that Asterite's connection to the Tesseract makes this process possible. Its own ability to control time is higher developed in the future, its globes have changed the color, are solid and look much stronger because they seem to consist of crystal structures. This could have happened because of experiences it made in the present when it noticed how easily it can be destroyed. Maybe the solid globes are some sort of armor, the force field that surrounds it in its future cave could protect it against attacks and only it can decide who is allowed to come closer or even who has the permission to leave its chamber. Both in present and in future the Asterite is able to speak to other creatures. We believe that it can connect itsself to any lifeform on Earth which was important for its long and still continuing learning process. Its abilities to sense are much highlier developed than those of other beings and we guess that it can even see a creature without being present. Maybe it knows everything about their genetic structures and this made it possible to copy them by the invention of a metasphere. Asterite communicates via telepathy (Big Blue: 'energy of thought'), it shows pictures and makes the creature it speaks to, hearing an imaginary voice. Ecco was only one example for its way to project itsself into others and we guess that it can influence and empower every living being on Earth. A huge part of its vast knowledge was collected by studying the life and developement around it, it saved this knowledge in its globes and will never loose it. Asterite seems to be the memory of the planet, its connection to the Tesseract lets it see other timelines and maybe it will even learn how to manipulate them. It also read Atlantean informations and thus it gained knowledge of past, future and hostile races like the Vortex. We believe that its own neverending examination of the world it inhabits, will lead it to become stronger and to archieve new abilities. Sadly the game doesn't reveal much about that but looking at its developement during all these years, we can easily assume something like that.
Even if it cannot die in a final way, it can be destroyed by loosing all of its globes but there is a chance for it to live again. It's important to make a difference between concious globes and disconnected globes which have a neutral color and which are not able to move from one place to another. When Asterite is missing one globe only, it doesn't loose its color. The reason is that this special globe must be retrieved. To keep its own balance, Asterite creates a placeholder for the missing globe that looks like a bubble. We can see that in Ecco 1, where it is lacking one of its globes because Ecco stole it in the past. It also is not able to reproduce a missing globe, it had million years for doing this but it failed and needed to find another way to get it back. Thus the globes are unique, the amount is constant and its main intention is to stay complete forever. When it misses more than one globe - I mean the minimum of a pair - the colors would change to neutral. That happens because it doesn't matter in which order the globes are attached, the main creature fixes the color and the level Ridge Water shows how this process works. Ecco can bring any globe pair back to Asterite, it attaches all of them and fixes the color on its own. Single globes cannot be attached, it is rebuilt pair after pair and as soon as it senses the proximity of a further pair, it creates a bubble to attrackt it. Once the disconnected globes become a part of Asterite, their colors change. As long as they are disconnected, they pulsate. We suppose that this 'pulsating' is a way for the globes to sense and to communicate. Asterite comes to be when a minimum of one pair of globes has found each other. When the Asterite is unconcious which means that it no longer fulfills its eternal significant movement and lies on the ground as an amount of disconnected globes, it still does not loose its color. This happened two times in the game: The first time was in Dark Water where Ecco hit it and where it was able to rebuild itsself after a while to live and move again. The second time occured when it was knocked down by the Queen. There you can see that the globes only loose the color when they are completely seperated from each other and when its enemy blew them through the oceans. The reason is that it could be able to start moving again but that's impossible when the globes are totally parted. Rebuilding it looks like an easy procedure and only the minimum of one pair is necessary. As soon as two globes have found a free way to spin, a beginning or brain is created. The two starting globes get a color again and the others can be attached. The pulsating means communication because Asterite wants to avoid the creation of a second Asterite at another place. By using its connection to the Tesseract as a bridge, it is able to reach all the disconnected globes and it even doesn't matter in which timeline they are. There is just this beginning, this very first pair, that waits for the return of all of the others. An example is delivered in the level Morray Abyss, Ecco sets one pair of the Asterite's globes free, it beginns to live and to revolve, is able to talk and represents a weak but living being. Putting the other disconnected globes together in such a way doesn't lead to the existance of a further beginning and so the globes have to be transported to this basical place. With every further globe, the Asterite becomes stronger and regains more parts of its memory and its lost power. Thus we can assume that its brain and its soul are the sum of all globes that need to be gathered. Only a completed Asterite with all 48 single globes at the right place can use its full power. Unluckily the disconnected globes just survive and pulsate, can be sensed by the main creature but cannot be attrackted or moved. The reason is that they need an energy to be transported and to revolve around. In case of the game, this transporting energy was Ecco and only such a force could lead a pair of globes and bring it back to Asterite to complete it. It's also important to say that it has no influence on Asterite when it once died by loosing all its globes. As soon as it is rebuilt, the same creature lives again with no restrictions and no lack of its old power and knowledge.
We can't truly say when the Asterite was born but we suppose that it came to be when the universe was still young and maybe when there was no life on Earth yet. As we mentioned above, it's our belief that it is not the only one of his kind and that it was created by a higher lifeform which we call the Source Asterite and which has the intention to watch over space and time. This all-powerful being possibly gave birth to other creatures that were similar to itsself but still under its own development level. Maybe it made this decision to study universe and to have the chance to influence the process of evolution. Thus the Asterite was sent to Earth to exist there forever, to learn about the planet and to gather knowledge and information. We assume that Asterite neither had orders to intervene nor did it create life in this world but it could be possible that it influenced evolution by transporting bacteria from outer space. Maybe only this made the development of life on Earth possible but it happened accidentally, it never was the Asterite's purpose and we also think that life could already have existed when it came and that its appearance only changed it because of the foreign micro organism cultures it brought.
In order to study this world, the Asterite came here and searched for a deep and narrow underwater cave to live in eternal peace and silence. It had no connection to other lifeforms, did not care about Earth and the creatures around it and wanted to fulfill its task by learning, sensing and saving knowledge and information. In the distant past it acted aggressively, did not want to be disturbed and hid itsself from its surrounding without paying attention to others and without the will to intervene in history or life of the planet's races. Passively it remained, studied and waited, had no further needs and followed its calm and unnoticed existance. Years passed by without any major change but one event affected the hidden and foreign creature in an unexpected way. Sensing a strange time warp, the Asterite recognised the presence of an animal from the future that was not familiar to it. It did not want to be disturbed, felt that something was wrong and prepared itsself for an encounter but it totally underestimated Ecco the dolphin, who traveled from another timeline and who attacked Asterite to steal one of its globes. Maybe Ecco was too fast, maybe Asterite was too weak in these days but we believe that it just did not expect Ecco's power and thus it was beaten after the fourth globe of one kind was hit. It absolutely did not know that one day there would be a deep connection between him and other lifeforms and in quest for peace and silence it even tried to kill the dolphin as it would kill any other intruder too. Nevertheness it lost the battle and it also lost its extremely important completeness which made it weaker and pretty helpless. Ecco disappeared in the moment when he released the globe by using the strange characteristic of Asterite, whose connection to the Tesseract makes time travel possible, and left the uncomplete and nearly unconcious creature behind. Anyway, Asterite can live with a minimum of one pair of globes and so it was able to rebuild its old spin after a while and created a placeholder for the lacking part of itsself to keep the balance. Its uncompleteness was not a true problem, it continued hiding itsself in its chamber and sensed the development of life for further millions of years.
In all these years, an alien race called the Atlanteans traveled to Earth to hide and defend against their enemies, the Vortex kind. The Atlanteans built up a communication network and their high knowledge about time travel, past and future allowed them to know about Earth' history. We also believe that they felt the Asterite's presence or that they knew about its existance because of their knowledge about future. They also found out that a dolphin will save the planet in many years and that this creature will find a way to defeat the Vortex. Thus they used glyphs as message crystals to save their information and to get a chance to lead this dolphin on his later quest. Asterite studied this knowledge and was able to find out everything about how time travel works and maybe it also noticed that the dolphin who has attacked it in the past, must have come from the future. Anyway, the Atlanteans constructed a time machine to send their glyphs at the correct places. There never was a true conversation between them and Asterite, they just felt it and predicted its future role and thus we assume that the Atlanteans gave it its name. Asterite, who still hid itsself, did not pay attention to them but gathering their knowledge belonged to its tasks. Nevertheness the Atlanteans were attacked by the Vortex, used their machine to escape and left their crystals behind to help the dolphin fulfilling his destiny many years later. The Game Gear version of Ecco 1 delivers a proof for the Atlantean knowledge about Asterite because one of the glyphs says: 'Pick one color.' That shows that they knew about the battle between Asterite and Ecco but we still believe that there was no true connection. It was not more than studying each other and so Asterite did not want to intervene in their wars.
After the Atlanteans vanished, Asterite continued its ancient passive existance, went on with its studies and learned everything from the Atlantean glyphs. The Vortex kept on invading Earth every 500 years but Asterite, who still did not care about the creatures of its homeworld, remained silently and span monotonously in its hidden chamber. Full of mistrust against the sea animals, it did not pay attention to the alien attacks, there never was a connection between it and the Vortex kind and all it wanted to do was studying and fullfilling its task that never gave it the wish to intervene. During the years the creatures on Earth became more and more intelligent and some of them begann to sense the Asterite's presence in the oceans. A whale called Big Blue and others found it in its cave and tried to sing to it. It did not want to reply and even if it had learned how to communicate, it didn't see a necessity in talking to them. Thus it became a legend and only the oldest and wisest singers knew about this unknown being from space and felt its immense energy of thought.
Few years later, Ecco appears in Asterite's cave. The dolphin knows about it because he has talked to Big Blue who was dying in the eternal ice and Ecco also knows that this strange creature from outer space could possibly be his only chance to save his pod which has been taken away by the Vortex. When Asterite first meets the dolphin, it notices something and remembers the attack several million years ago in the distant past (I remember you! ...of course it was you... ...and it was I who sent you... Now it is clear.). There, Ecco once has stolen its globe and because of its own studies of Atlantean time travel knowledge, it finally comes to the conclusion that it has to send Ecco back to regain the missing part of itsself. An idea is coming to Asterite's mind, it feels the deep wish to be complete again and the young dolphin who begs for help is the only way to regain its true power. Thus it decides that a trade, an alliance, is a chance for both of them (I can help you by giving you powers and knowledge but... first you must help me... You must help me regain my full strenght - you must travel into the past.). During their first conversation, Asterite acts more or less neutral. It gives Ecco the necessary instructions to travel back in time and to find its missing globe which is needed for it to help the dolphin. Its own knowledge about time travel makes it possible for it to know where the dolphin has to go but it also decides not to reveal too much. The task is dangerous for Ecco but Asterite feels that there is no other way and it also knows that Ecco once has succeeded in getting the globe. The hope for completeness leads to a promise and it chooses to help as soon as its previous power is back (Use the machine to travel to the distant past before your kind existed. You will go back 55 million years! There you will find my missing globe... You must return it to me... Only then I can give you what you need to save your pod.). It never intervened or cared about others and their trouble but this moment changes its attitude and it has no better possibility. After listening to the Asterite's instructions, Ecco leaves its cave and lets his new ally continue its everlasting waiting peroid.
Either only a second passed or it needed a few hours/days until Ecco finally traveled back to the present but of course he succeeded in stealing one of the Asterite's globes in the past. Asterite waits in its chamber and generates a high level of energy when Ecco brings it the long time missed part of itsself. After millions of years it is complete again and feels extreme power and gratitude (Now I am whole again with all my power - thank you Ecco! Now I will help you - I will give you new powers...). Immediately it projects its will into the dolphin and makes him stronger and nearly immortal. From this moment on, Ecco's wounds heal on their own and he no longer needs air to survive. This makes a battle against the Vortex possible and Asterite gives further instructions by teaching him a song to control the time machine once more and to travel back to the hour when the invasion has occured (Use this song to return to your home bay just before the storm.). Asterite doesn't know if Ecco will be successful in fighting the aliens but it starts to feel positive emotions for its partner and won't hesitate to help him (With your new powers perhaps you will save your pod.). Anyway, the dolphin leaves and Asterite enjoys its new completeness. Something has changed but this change is still too vague to fully renew its attitude towards its homeworld. Sadly, we don't know what has happened between the two games but Ecco defeated the Vortex Queen and led his pod back to Earth. Maybe he told about his journey and even talked about Asterite but we are not sure. The first game ends with the freed dolphins and we have no idea about a possible change of Asterite's mind or even about what it did after Ecco returned. We suppose that it continued its everlasting existance but started to feel new emotions like friendship and responsibility.
The Queen who has been beaten by a simple dolphin, beginns to wonder how this could have been possible. We believe that she started to study the knowledge of her old enemies, the Atlanteans. Thus she finds out that Ecco received his power from the Asterite and decides to take revenge. Immediately after Ecco returned to Earth, she follows him, searchs for the Asterite and kills it by destroying the orbits of its globes. It is surprised by her appearance and has no chance to defend. To prevent it from completing itsself, she blows its globes through the oceans and takes one of its pairs away into her own future which she was able to create because Ecco's previous time travel in the first game has split the stream of time. So, two different futures are coexisting - a natural one and a second dark one where the Vortex rule over Earth and where Asterite and Ecco failed in their mission to save the planet. Meanwhile Ecco swims through the seas and is happy to have his family back. Suddenly he looses the power the Asterite has projected into him and the connection between it and the dolphins is strong enough to let them feel its death and to give them the chance to explain why Ecco has to breathe air again (We felt the death of the Asterite.). Anyway, the split of time causes a further strange event and the Asterite, who still lives in the true version of the world, is able to send a dolphin named Trellia into Ecco's timeline and to find a way to transport him into its future where it finally talks to him. In a chamber high in the sky, Ecco meets his old friend and Asterite has changed a lot during millions of years. It is much older, highly-evolved and explains Ecco what has happened and why the Queen was able to find it (Listen to me carefully. When you saved your pod, the Vortex Queen followed you to Earth. You must return to your time and stop the Vortex before they take root upon the Earth. There are two possible futures for Earth and only you can prevent the dark Vortex Future. You are the stone that split the stream of time in two.). By showing its own memories, it instructs the dolphin about what he would have to do to make the true future of Earth possible and sends him back into his timeline by creating a metasphere. Regarding the conversation between Ecco and Asterite in the future, we can see that the connection between it and life on Earth is very deep. The way it talks looks gently, it cares for its homeworld and has the wish to repair the damages in the past. It also has learned alot, became stronger and evolved in a way we described above. It's easy to recognise that its change is not only physical. Also its attitude, its mind and its behaviour changed but because of a chronological order, we will analyse its future more carefully at a later point of our theory.
Back to the present, Ecco starts to search for a way to rebuild the Asterite. The knowledge of the Atlanteans helps him to find a path into a dark abyss where he sets the first pair of Asterite's globes - the beginning of its new life - free. Asterite is very weak, its memory is lost but it is able to talk and to live again. Desperately it cries for help and Ecco travels through the oceans, uses Atlantean technology and looks for the lost globes (Find... ...globes... Ecco... Please... Ecco...). Pair after pair, he restores his friend and the more globes it has, the stronger it becomes and the more of its memory is regained (...without the final pair... I cannot... The Vortex Queen knew that I empowered you to defeat her...). Its phrases become longer, it tries to give Ecco instructions, wants to explain what has happened and you can easily see how much the terrible experience of its death has changed it. In Ecco 1 it talked in a neutral way, at the end it felt gratitude and a beginning friendship but now Asterite feels dependence. It knows that only Ecco can save it, its words look fearful and despaired and its own weakness leads it to repeat sentences over and over because it needs more globes to articulate and to remember the events. After a while, it is strong enough to gather its thoughts and to tell Ecco what he has to do. A will to fight, a determination is emerging but it also doesn't truly know how to go on because its final pair is in the dark future. Thus it has no other chance but sending Ecco, trusting him and praying that everything will be well again. In the moment when Ecco leaves, we recognize hopelessness but Asterite also believes and doesn't surrender because it promises Ecco to empower him again (Without my final pair I cannot give you the power you need to beat the Vortex Queen. You must find another way to travel to the Dark Future and return my final pair...). That shows that it is not a coward, its death has not discouraged it but it also has to wait and its fate depends on Ecco's success. Its change of mind, its will to protect Earth, have grown again and we would like to mention at this point, that its determined behavior truly contradicts its old passive way of life where interventions were inconceivable for it.
Anyhow, Ecco succeeds in getting the last pair of globes and is able to return it to the present. Beating the Globeholder in the dark future, he again uses the strange connection between Asterite and the Tesseract to travel back in time where he finally carries the pair to his friend who is very surprised. We don't know if Asterite was able to expect this success but we truly recognize its gratitude and happiness (You amaze me again little one...). Immediateley it gives Ecco new powers and offers him the chance to beat the Queen (Now that I am whole again, I can give you the power you need to stop the Vortex Queen and...). Asterite looks very determined and has left its passive life completely. There is a strong connection between it and Earth creatures, it sings to Ecco's mates and teaches them a song to fight the drones (I will sing a powerful song to summon your brother singers...). Maybe it wants revenge, it no longer waits, hides or hesitates and the change of its attitude towards its homeworld is fulfilled. Once it acted aggressively, did not want to be disturbed, did not intervene or care for others but its own experiences and the friendship with Ecco have opened a new view. It never was its task to protect, it was ordered to study and to remain silently but now there is no other way but changing its character and becoming an active guardian, a leader and a helper. We assume that it finally learned how to feel during these years, a foreign kind of responsibility fixes its opinion and it doesn't want its planet to be in danger (Go now and stop the Vortex menace!). Even after Ecco returns from the battle against the Queen, it calls him. In the level Epilogue, the two friends meet for one last time and Asterite, who uses its power and its sensing abilities to protect Earth, tries to warn him. Its primary wish is to completely beat the Vortex and there is also a wish to have a calm and peaceful world (To prevent this from happening again, you must go to Atlantis and destroy the Time Machine. When you do this, you will swim happy again and life on Earth will go on...). It gives the final instructions, cares for its surrounding and totally breaks up with its old, monotonous way, where troubles of others did not count and where this planet did not mean anything to it. All in all, Ecco disregards the Asterite's advice and doesn't come back but he leaves his ally behind and was the only one who made this extreme character change possible. Asterite is no longer the same and has a new destiny.
Regarding the Asterite's future, it is easy to see that it's just a continuation of its present and the deep changes it experienced there. Looking at it in the far away bright future, it definitely cares for its world, protects it actively, has evolved in an amazing way and uses its knowledge to guard its planet. It did not leave, it still lives in its chamber and we assume that it talks to sea creatures whenever it is necessary or when they need its help. Maybe it tought them new abilities but we don't know about that. Of course, it still is hidden but it also is stronger and no longer unattainable for those who call it. Its way to talk looks extremely gentle, caring and even loving (Hello my little singer, it is good to see you and feel your thoughts after so long.) and we believe that its long life full of studies led it to the final decision that there never was a better chance for it. Its old task was another one but fate showed it a different truth behind its existance.