A 2021 graphic novel written and illustrated by Tim Fielder, Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale tells the story of an ancient African king by the name of Aja Oba, renowned across the land for his military might, ruthless ambition and strong leadership. He and his equally-cunning consort, Queen Lewa, become the rulers of one of the earliest empires in human history, and reign unchallenged across all of Africa.
Unfortunately, the two are unable to conceive an heir to the throne, and with the stability of his kingdom on the line, Aja Oba seeks out the services of the witch and concubine Obinrin in the hope of acquiring a son from her. When the king betrays Obinrin by simply stealing their child from her, the sorceress curses him with immortality, forcing him to live with the consequences of his actions; Aja Oba soon finds himself facing said consequences all too soon, as he outlives his wife, his son, and even his kingdom.
What follows is a genre-spanning adventure across time as the immortal ruler struggles to find a place for himself among mortals, all while witnessing the world around him change for better and for worse - and enduring the trials and tribulations that Africa and its people have undergone throughout history...
Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale provides examples of:
- And I Must Scream: The story concludes with the natural end of the universe... only for Aja to somehow find himself surviving that too, leaving him floating endlessly through the void with no hope of escape.
- Anti-Hero: Aja was not a nice person in his early days; quite apart from being a cold-hearted warlord and empire-builder, he also betrayed his concubine Obrinin, stole her child, killed her people and murdered her. Even in the centuries following this, he's still bitter, ruthless and notably vengeful, to the point that he decided to accept Martin Luther King's peaceful approach to protest out of boredom.
- Arc Words: "But the king did not die." It's the final line of the story, too, with Aja having somehow having survived the end of the universe.
- Bald Mystic: Obinrin is one of an entire sect of sorceresses native to Aja's kingdom, and has her head shorn completely bald.
- Been There, Shaped History: Aja not only participated in the Punic Wars, but also briefly partnered with the Maroons and fought in the American Civil War.
- Canis Major: Aja's kingdom was renowned for hounds the size of Clydesdale horses - to the point that Aja's warriors actually rode them into battle.
- Complete Immortality: Aja is ageless, invincible, and sports a healing factor that only seems to grow more potent as time goes on, to the point that an energy blast to the head only leaves him comatose. Obinrin claims that she and Aja aren't immortal at all, but simply live for a very, very long time - though it's not certain if she's being sincere, and if she is, exactly how much longer Aja will live for when he's already lived for several billion years. In the end, not even the end of the universe itself can put him down for good.
- Crapsack World, Escapist Sanctuary: During the decades following John's victory against the aliens, Earth is hit by a devastating series of post-war viruses that force the human population to dress in protective gear while outdoors or in company. With physical intimacy rendered extremely difficult, humanity seeks solace in virtual reality, at first merely using it to connect with others in the midst of the pandemic, then for accessing an increasingly decadent array of entertainment - most of it extremely addictive. Unfortunately, it results in the population becoming complacent, allowing the aliens to mount a counterattack, leaving the Earth in ruins before John finally returns from the dead to rally the surviving human population to his banner.
- Downer Ending: Aja outlives all life in the universe, manages to achieve absolution, is finally forgiven by Obinrin right before the universe itself ends - and just when it looks like the story is going to end on a bittersweet note, Aja finds himself surviving the apocalypse. From then on, he's condemned to float across the empty void for all eternity, alone and unable to die.
- Dying Curse: In her final moments before being murdered by Aja's troops, Obinrin's last words are to curse Aja with immortality and see his loved ones die. Of course, the ending reveals that she's not as dead as initially thought.
- Freak Out: Following the death of his fourth and final love, Aja commits suicide... only to wake up unharmed centuries later. He is reduced to screaming at the sky in deranged fury. After this, he well and truly buries his feelings for all eternity, never loving again.WHAT IS THIS? WHAT IS THIS?!
- God-Emperor: Towards the end of the story, Aja has become so powerful that many humans revere him as a god, and with the governments of Earth obliterated, he emerges from the interstellar war as the only remaining leader on Earth - ruling as a gigantic, petrified god-figure ruling over the human race.
- Genius Bruiser: Aja might be a giant of a man with inhuman strength, but he's nobody's fool - to the point that, when he finally takes revenge on his slave master, he's able to name every single bone as he shatters them. In the 21st century, he begins devoting his mind to greater intellectual challenges, until he starts his own company and invests heavily in interstellar colonization.
- Good Is Not Nice: Even after he becomes a hero, Aja isn't exactly the gentlest man on the planet. Among other things, he stages brutal reprisals against slavers, murders his slave-master in his bed, and enthusiastically participates in the bloodiest moments of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War.
- Healing Factor: During the Vietnam War, Aja gets an arm blown off; within a few decades, it's as good as new. As time goes on, his regenerative capabilities only grow more potent, allowing him to shrug off a gunshot to the head.
- Hope Spot:
- After being kicked out of the Carthaginian army, Aja wanders despairingly until he unexpectedly falls in love with Ayeko, a tribal artist. Being accepted by Ayeko's tribe, the two of them marry, and Aja finally feels genuine happiness after centuries of joyless wandering... and then a plague wipes out the entire village, killing Ayeko and leaving Aja alone to be swept up by the slave trade.
- As a slave, Aja manages to carve out a niche for himself as Master Bill Smith's prizefighter, marries fellow slave Ambermae and starts a family. Unfortunately, Smith finds out about Aja's efforts to flee slaves from other plantations, and has both Ambermae and the children hanged, driving Aja to brutally murder Smith and flee into the wilderness. Aja's narration even points out how foolish he was for growing complacent enough, and vows never to make himself so vulnerable ever again.
- In the far future, Aja finds wealth and success running a major corporation, using his influence to establish a colony in another star system, building the new world as a tribute to his lost kingdom and loved ones. Not only does he seem genuinely satisfied with his work, but he even falls in love with botanist Jason Jose - despite his vow never to love again. And then the human race ends up starting a war with an alien race, and over the course of this war, Jason is killed.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Over the course of his eternal life, Aja lost his throne and his empire and was reduced to wandering the land in a confused haze; for a while, he gained a bit of prestige when he joined forces with the Carthaginians, then the natives of the new Africa that formed after the collapse of his kingdom... only to fall from grace again when the slave trade kicked off.
- Immortal Genius: Aja Oba is fiercely intelligent, aided by the fact that he has more time to study than any other human being in the world: after settling down in the 21st century, he begins studying physics and technology to pass the time, eventually mastering enough to start his own company, bankroll space colonization, and lead his own team of scientists in terraforming a new world. After transcending humanity in the wake of an alien invasion, he even rules over Earth as a combination God-Emperor / Philosopher King.
- Immortal Ruler: Aja was cursed with immortality while still king and was able to hang on to his throne for several decades - at least up to a century. Ultimately deconstructed, as the death of his wife and child left him unable to focus on actually running the kingdom, and his deepening depression resulted in Aja being caught off-guard when a new power arose to challenge him. In the end, Aja's empire was destroyed, reducing him to a wandering vagrant. Later, after transcending humanity, he becomes the ruler of the restored Earth - a superpowered monolith commanding the allegiance of every living sentient being on the planet.
- Immortality Bisexuality: During the age of space colonization, Aja falls in love with a male scientist and establishes a genuinely caring relationship. Ultimately, it's the death of this latest love that prompts Aja to commit suicide - not that it works.
- Lady Macbeth: Queen Lewa is every bit as ruthless and ambitious as her husband, spurring Aja to conduct the abduction of Obinin's child and the murder of the witch's tribe.
- Love Redeems: Aja's relationship with Ayeko drove off the last of his desires for an empire and allowed him to find contentment in the life of a simple villager. Even after Ayeko's tragic death, Aja never attempts to reclaim his throne, and though he's still a very brutal man, he's at least willing to help others.
- Made a Slave: With the advent of the European slave trade, Aja finds himself enslaved, eventually winding up working on a plantation in America - where he remains until he kills his master.
- Outliving One's Offspring:
- Before the end of his first century of his eternal life, Aja got to see his son die of old age.
- After starting another family with a fellow slave in America, Aja returns to find that his master has hanged not only his wife, but his two children as well.
- Posthuman Nudism: In the finale, Aja is unexpectedly reunited with Obinrin; having somehow managed to attain her own version of eternal life, she and Aja are now the last people left on Earth and unlike Aja, she still retains a human form. Unsurprisingly, with no need for clothes and nobody around to protest, she's completely naked.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After finding out that Aja has been helping slaves escape from neighboring plantations, Master Smith retaliates by having Aja's wife and children hanged. Aja took revenge not merely by slowly torturing Smith to death, one broken bone at a time, but by burning down several other plantations until his vengeance was well and truly satisfied.
- Stronger with Age: As the centuries pass, Aja grows steadily stronger, ultimately crossing the line into outright supernatural powers. By the time of the American Civil War, his physical strength is greater than any other slave on the plantation, eventually allowing him to wield a gatling gun as if it were no heavier than a rifle; during Earth's expansion into space, this power extends to the level of telekinesis, even matter manipulation. Ultimately, he grows so powerful that he ends the entire war between humanity and aliens by pure thought, then transcends humanity to become a petrified god-like entity watching over the human race, and survives the death of the entire universe.
- Time Abyss: By the end of the story, Aja has lived for billions of years, long enough to witness the human race abandoning Earth and the extinction of all remaining life on the planet.
- Tranquil Fury: In the 1960s, upon encountering a gang of rednecks trying to run down a black child in their pickup truck, Aja very calmly doffs his coat and asks the little girl to cover her eyes... and proceeds to brutally murder every last one of the rednecks with his bare hands.
- Undying Warrior: Aja Oba starts out as a ruthless Warrior Prince and Front Line General known for his brutal tactics; cursed with immortality by the sorceress of a tribe he wiped out, he compensates for the loss of his kingdom and loved ones through extreme Blood Knight tendencies. Among other things, he participates in the Punic Wars, the American Civil War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Vietnam War, and even single-handedly fights off an Alien Invasion - twice - with only comparatively brief periods of retirement in between.
- Unholy Matrimony: Aja and Lewa were a genuinely loving couple - and both of them were pretty much villains from the very beginning: Aja lead conquests to expand his empire's territories, Lewa established the rule of law in the areas he conquered... and if anyone attempted to rebel, Aja took great delight in executing them personally.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Aja does not enjoy his immortality all that much, especially since he's already witnessed his wife and son die of old age and his kingdom fall into ruin. However, he endures out of atonement for his sins, especially once he finds a purpose he can devote himself to - most notably by joining the Civil Rights movement. However, Aja's spirit finally breaks when his latest friend and lover dies, driving him to blow his own brains out - but to his despair, even that isn't enough to put him down for good. As time goes on, his immortality only seems to increase in strength, as do his regrets and sorrows, until he literally outlives the entire universe, condemning Aja to an eternity alone in the void.
