The Dark Savant is the main villain in the final trilogy of the Wizardry series.
Story
Crusaders of the Dark Savant
The Dark Savant in Wizardry VII
The Dark Savant is initially described as a galactic conqueror who seeks to become a Cosmic Lord and rule the universe. Much like the heroes party, he has arrived at the planet of Lost Guardia, whose location was revealed after the theft of the Cosmic Forge (an artifact which can rewrite reality) at the ending of Wizardry VI, and seeks to find the Astral Dominae, an artifact created by a Cosmic Lord known as Phoonzang which is said to hold the secrets of the universe and life itself. It is said Phoonzang created Lost Guardia to safeguard the Astral Dominae, after which he mysteriously vanished.
The heroes party travels through the planet in search of the Astral Dominae, dealing with the various factions which are also after it and receiving the help of Vi Dominae, a mysterious woman who holds the key to reaching the artifact. After the party finds the Astral Dominae, they go back to Vi's ship only to find the Dark Savant there, who is holding Vi hostage and demands the Astral Dominae in exchange for her life. As the party hands over the artifact, the Dark Savant takes it and runs away on his spaceship. The heroes then join forces with Vi and give chase to the Dark Savant.
Wizardry 8
The Dark Savant in Wizardry 8
The heroes party have pursued the Dark Savant to the planet of Dominus, but since he arrived earlier at the planet he have already started taking it over, setting up various defenses and keeping his spaceship in orbit, which shots down the party's ship. The heroes survive and upon searching a shrine they discover the Dark Savant arrived at Dominus for the Ascension, a ritual which would allow him to become a Cosmic Lord. In order to make the ritual he would need three cosmic artifacts: the Astral Dominae, the Chaos Moliri and the Destinae Dominus. As he already possesses the Astral Dominae, he is looking for the other two, both of which are on Dominus.
The party then starts their quest to find the two artifacts before the Dark Savant does, as well as finding a way to disable his ship and to disarm a huge bomb which he has set on the planet. During their search the Dark Savant confronts them and threatens them with the Astral Dominae, only to find that it is actually a fake. Enraged, he tosses the fake Astral Dominae away and leaves. The party successfully retrieves the artifacts and the real Astral Dominae, taking the artifacts to Ascension Peak where the Dark Savant confronts them for the last time. They are all teleported to another dimension, where the Dark Savant finds Aletheides, the servant of the Cosmic Lords who had taken away the Cosmic Forge. Aletheides tells the Dark Savant that the Cosmic Lords are already gone forever, so the Dark Savant, enraged, kills him. The party takes the Cosmic Forge and decides to use it against the Dark Savant, but he tells the heroes to stop, revealing his true identity.
As it turns out, the Dark Savant is Phoonzang himself. When he was a Cosmic Lord, he decided to share his knowledge with the many races in the universe in the form of the Cosmic Artifacts, in the hopes that they could one day ascend to become Cosmic Lords as well. However, the other Cosmic Lords banished him from their circle and turned him into a mortal. Seeking revenge, Phoonzang modified his body with mechanical parts in order to live for centuries, becoming the Dark Savant and awaiting for the day when he would be ale to recover his artifacts to exact his revenge. At this point the Dark Savant offers the heroes to join him and become Cosmic Lords together, what happens next will depend on the player's choice.
If the party accepts the Dark Savant's offer, they all use the power of the Cosmic Forge to spread chaos over the universe. If the party refuses his offer, there will be two possible outcomes: In the first, the heroes decide to erase the Dark Savant from existence and restore Phoonzang, but the Dark Savant confronts them and ends defeated in the final battle, after which the heroes become the new Cosmic Lords and bring peace to the universe. In the second, the party decides to tear up the page describing Phoonzang's banishment, which causes all history after his exile to be erased, but also separates Phoonzang and the Dark Savant, who confronts the heroes. After he is defeated, the heroes become Cosmic Lords and Phoonzang, restored to his original self, becomes their mentor.