Emperor Ko
Emperor Ko (シコウ, Shikou) was an character mentioned in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and was the founder and the first emperor of the country of Sana. Though he died prior to the start of the game, and thus is never seen, his actions do have a minor effect on certain plot events.
Story
During the thirty year period between the Golden Sun event and the start of Dark Dawn, Ko was known for being aggressively expansionist. To this end, he approved military actions to take over the eastern regions of Angara, such as the beastman region of Morgal. The country also had other colonies, most of which go unnamed.
Emperor Ko was noted to possess a desire for eternal life, similarly to Babi, the ruler of Tolbi. In fact, certain records make mention of Babi's knowledge, but notes that these secrets died with him. In addition, it has been theorized that Ko's reasoning for invading and controlling Morgal lay in a legend that Mountain Roc blood granted eternal life. A military incursion he had ordered against the island of Nihan east across the sea was likewise motivated by a presumption that drinking the blood of the Serpent of Gaia Rock would grant endless life, though he would only discover that the creature had long since been slain.
A bookcase in Kolima Village says the following: "Supposedly, Emperor Ko invaded Morgal to obtain Mountain Roc blood. Apparently Ko was told that roc blood would grant immortality, though there are no legends claiming this." Through this, Dark Dawn makes it a point to suggest that an unknown party made this claim to Ko without any basis in local legends, implying that the war that followed could have been engineered by an outside agency through this interaction. While there are no other details reported onscreen that would back up speculation as to what individual or faction claimed this to Sana's emperor, it can be noted that the resulting occupation would have likely served the long-term goals of the Tuaparang empire. (If the Sanans slew the Mountain Roc, for example, the Magma Orb inside it could then be rendered accessible, which was necessary for the Tuaparang's long-term goal of raising Eclipse Tower within Morgal.)
However, Ko would eventually die, leading to the breakout of a massive civil war in Sana. Ko's intended successor was King Wo, who shared many of Ko's expansionist views. However, Wo had left Sana proper to found the colony of Kaocho. The end result of the civil war was that Wo's rival, Unan, managed to claim Ko's throne. Unan, a scholar, brought much needed peace to the region, but most of Ko's conquests were lost as a result.
King Wo would return to Kaocho, which he established as his own kingdom. Wo would continue Ko's legacy via his military aggressiveness and a mentioned desire for eternal life.
