[ooc] character information

[light_mischief]

RP INFORMATION

NAME Skulduggery Pleasant
BIRTHDATE 12/31/1574
CANON Skulduggery Pleasant Series

PLAYER Kelly

BEST CONTACT
Plurk or Discord

OTHER INFORMATION Fanwiki The Three Names Pre-Canon Interview

BACKGROUND

PRE-DEATH (1574-1650)

Little is (canonically) known about Skulduggery's life before the War, but here's what I got. Born in the late 1500s, presumably somewhere in Ireland, Skulduggery grew up in a village that didn't trust him. He spoke with a stutter that led others to believe he was possessed by the devil. At some point, he met Ghastly Bespoke and Hopeless, two friends who would later form the Dead Men during the war.

THE WAR(1650-1925)

The War that Skulduggery often refers to is a long-lasting engagement between different factions of sorcerers. The war began with three sides: the followers of an evil race of gods known as the Faceless Ones; the Necromancer Order; and the sorcerers who opposed the Faceless Ones and their religion. Skulduggery became one of the leaders of the resistance movement; at some point, he and his friends formed the ironically named group the Dead Men - ironic, because they usually came back from suicide missions alive.

Skulduggery eventually fell victim to Mevolent's second-in-command, Nefarian Serpine, who murdered his wife and child in order to trap him. It was a few days later, after extensive torture, that Skulduggery was murdered. His body was stuck on a pike and burnt for all to see; his bones, tossed into a sack, were dropped into the river.

Skulduggery's spirit did not move on like the rest of him, however. As other leaders of the resistance fell, Skulduggery had to literally pull himself together, returning to walk the Earth in nothing but his bones. However, the trauma of his death and the murder of his family proved to be too much, and he, like, just totally blacked out for five years. You know, as you do.

Five years later, Skulduggery reappeared on the battlefield, and alongside his friends, the resistance finally was able to defeat Mevolent and his minions. Now that the War was over and the magical community had a structured government, there was little left for him to do but become a working stiff like the rest of us.

POST-WAR (1925-2009)

Up until the start of the books basically. Skulduggery works with the Irish Sanctuary as a magical detective. People trust him, knowing him as one of the leaders of the resistance and one of the main reasons why the war ended the way it did. We have loads of shenanigans that are never clarified, and you know what? That's life sometimes. What we do know:

Sometime before 2009, Skulduggery was sent to deal with supposed poltergeist activity in a church. He found that the culprits were instead a group of goblin-like creatures, and so he set about trying to scare them away. Unfortunately for him, they managed to sneak up on him while he was in a deep meditative state, and they... stole his skull. It wasn't life-threatening or anything, it's just really embarrassing. The skull he currently owns is one he won in a poker game.

(I assume) Sometime during the 80s, Skulduggery meets with a writer named Gordon Edgley. The two become close friends, and Gordon uses his stories as inspiration for what will wind up being his most successful novels ever. Gordon is a mortal man who wishes he could use magic, which as you might suspect, ends poorly for old Edgely.

CANON (2007-2011)

I've done quick write-ups of the book canons here, and recommend hitting up the fanwiki your local library if you want to get all the details! But, the highlights include:

Skulduggery's friend, Gordon Edgley, dies abruptly one night, leaving his massive fortune and mansion to his 11 year old niece. While she's staying there alone one night, she is attacked by an assassin, only to be saved by Skulduggery! Stephanie joins Skulduggery in solving the mystery of what happened to her uncle, and by the end of the book she has decided to join him as his protege and partner. The two of them confront and defeat multiple enemies, including Baron Vengeous, whose plan to summon evil gods to Earth is partially foiled. However, the gods are alerted to the location of their long lost planet...

A shady cabal of evil god worshippers come together in order to finally open a portal between Earth and the Faceless Ones. Skulduggery and his friends, along with some tenative necromancer allies, go all out in trying to stop this from happening. Unfortunately, during the ensuing battle (where they killed two gods in human vessels), Skulduggery is dragged through a portal, supposedly never to be seen again. ...Until 11 months later, when Valkyrie, China, Tanith, Ghastly and Fletcher all work together to save him from the hell dimension he's been pulled into. Unfortunately, it has been 11 months, and he is... well. He just is. Thankfully, Skulduggery keeps his shit together enough to help stop some villains from blowing up the Irish Championship game. They are too late to stop them from destroying the Sanctuary, however.

ABILITIES

ELEMENTAL MAGIC
Skulduggery is commonly known as an elemental sorcerer, which means he has control over the four elements (fire, water, air, and earth). This means he can manipulate the elements in useful ways: by creating fireballs, helping him walk across bodies of water, and using the air to throw people in bar fights. The premise of this is that, if you can recognize the interlocking nature of all things, you can tap into an innate ability to interact with those surroundings in magical ways. (I haven't mentioned earth magic for good reason. Earth magic is defensive, and used only as a last resort; when used, the sorcerer turns themselves into stone, and are then forced to remain that way for an indeterminate amount of time. It could be hours, or it could be years.)
As of Dark Days, Skulduggery has learned a few new tricks. He can now create streams of fire from his palms, fly, and manipulate air into solid walls.

NECROMANCY
Skulduggery isn't known for his necromancy, and that's for good reason: his necromantic powers come from a separate persona, one he refuses to tap into. A ruthless and bloodthirsty general of Mevolent's army, Lord Vile is a master of necromancy, capable of bending shadows to his will and wiping out vast swaths of life at once. But that was past Vile, Kevin! That guy hurt a lot of people. You can't hold Skulduggery accountable for what past Vile did.
As of Dark Days, Skulduggery still has little access to his necromancy, but with the return of his new skull, the knowledge of how to draw on it is there.

OTHER MAGIC
There are some basic magic spells that Skulduggery can use, that are more or less freebies. He has the ability to pull reflections from mirrors, essentially serving as dead-eyed body doubles for when you need to be in two places at once. He has a crimson red aura, which is apparently important but I think that's from the later books and I don't really know what use that is here. He can also perform any spell outside of the sorcerer class as a level 1 spell, but only with prior DM permission!

NON-MAGICAL
Skulduggery has a keen mind and is a great detective. (Better than the player is, that's for sure.) He tends to be able to pick up small details that would otherwise slip under the radar. He also is proficient with martial combat, having been taught to box by his friend Ghastly Bespoke. His fighting style involves getting in close and laying on with the punches, kicks, and jabs; he's known to be ruthless and unpredictable both on and off the battlefield. He also has proficiency with swords and guns, although the latter is by far his most preferred weapon. He will generally ask first, sass second, shoot third and fireball fourth.

LORD VILE

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Under Serpine's command, Mevolent's forces again attacked the Necromancer Temple for the second time during the war. The leader of the necromancers, Tenebrae, was forced to teach Nefarian Serpine the Red Right Hand - a necromancer technique that would cause agonizing death for anyone Serpine pointed at. When he learned that Serpine planned to use it against Skulduggery, however, Tenebrae altered the spell to ensure it wouldn't work.
And it didn't. Serpine killed Skulduggery with his red right hand, but Skulduggery's soul was permanently bound to his body. But the process to reunite body and soul took over a century to complete, and by the time Skulduggery crawled out of the river his bones had been left in, he had been transformed by his grief and rage into something altogether more horrible than the man he was before.
Unable to come to terms with what he'd become, what he'd lost, and what he was still bound to lose, Skulduggery lost himself. When he entered the Necromancer Temple, it was as Lord Vile, where he donned a suit of black necromancer armor and began training under his new discipline.
Vile was so powerful that the necromancers were convinced he was destined to be the Death Bringer -- the necromancer's god who is destined to tear down the barrier between life and death. However, Vile abandoned the Temple before ever learning about their beliefs, turning to Mevolent's forces to find some outlet for his unrelenting rage.
During the five years Lord Vile fought for Mevolent, he became known as a terrifying and unstoppable representation of death. Undefeated in all that time, Vile murdered millions of people, including his best friend Ghastly Bespoke's mother. Confronting Ghastly in combat, however, turned out to be too much for Lord Vile, and Skulduggery managed to finally come to his senses.
Skulduggery removed the armor of Lord Vile and left it deep inside a mountain, abandoning his family crest at the same time. The armor would be later recovered by Baron Vengeous, and then hidden away by the Irish Sanctuary after his demise.

WHAT IS HE?
Strictly speaking, Lord Vile is Skulduggery Pleasant. Lord Vile is a personality that Skulduggery keeps locked inside his subconscious, unable to fully abandon it when his rage is so deeply rooted. According to Skulduggery, Lord Vile doesn't care who his enemy is, so long as he has one. He has no sense of remorse, killing entire battlefields without second thought, and is obsessed with murder and destruction.
As Skulduggery loses sense of reality and becomes broken through repeated torture by the Faceless Ones, he also loses his steady hand on the wheel. After the events of Dark Days, Skulduggery has been reunited with his original skull, and with it comes that oppressive darkness. Knowing that the necromancers are actively searching for another Death Bringer has upset him and Vile in turn, for vastly different reasons. Now safely aboard the Eterna, Skulduggery's main concern is ensuring Vile doesn't destroy the ship, the captain, and everything that Skulduggery has been working so hard to try and protect. Thankfully for everyone involved, Skulduggery cannot truly become Lord Vile without his armor, which is safely hidden away in his reality.

BUT HE HAS THE ARMOR?
Oh. Oh no.
Currently, Skulduggery cannot access his necromancy despite now possessing part of Vile's armor. Arbitrary RP rules I've made up mean that he is safe from Vile until he has four pieces of the armor. As of now, he currently possesses both right and left gauntlets. Once he has the four main pieces, however, the desire to turn to his ruthless, violent, powerful alternate persona will be difficult to fight. The only choice Vile will be torn between will be "passengers first, or captain?"

VILE'S POWERS
Lord Vile's power is all necromancy all the time, baby. He possesses the ability to manipulate darkness and shadows to his will, almost unconsciously. The reason for this power is honestly simple: necromancy is dangerous and unstable when used by the dead, and that is precisely what Skulduggery is.
In his reality, necromancers harness the energy of the dead in order to control shadows and darkness. This includes transforming shadows into projectiles, whips, tendrils, and magic missiles. He's also capable of shadow-walking, which is a lesser form of teleportation, and can use shadows to fly. Lord Vile also appears to have the ability to create a bubble of death, in which all life forces within a certain radius are sucked towards the user as it contracts, allowing him to become even stronger.
Who knows how all of this will play out in-game! That's for future Kelly to worry about. Present Kelly is just happy to have finally put this information down so nobody has to read about Phase 2 bullshit.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

PHYSICAL
So, first thing's first: Skulduggery is a skeleton. No muscles, no tendons, no skin, no eyes, no nothing. He's just bone and magic. That being said, he is usually dressed in a slim, fitted black suit and a matching hat. He is always wearing a black-and-white embroidery floss friendship bracelet on his left wrist. Often, but maybe not always (aka if I forget), he wears gloves. If he's wearing something different or sporting an attempt at a disguise (like a scarf or sunglasses), I'll make sure to mention it. Skulduggery has a deep, smooth voice with an Irish accent that is canonically gorgeous.

PERSONALITY
For the most part, Skulduggery attempts to appear confident at all times. He is a proud, vain man, and despite the fractures his psyche has recently suffered, he has no interest in appearing weak or feeble-minded. His natural curiosity has developed a visible obsessive streak, and he's most comfortable when indulging in whatever flights of fancy his mind conjures up for him to pursue. He's prone to occasional bouts of aggression that end as abruptly as they begin. He may or may not ramble, and sometimes he may speak to his hallucinations. Overall, however, he is still fundamentally the same guy. Decent, honest, good people will be treated with as much respect as he gets in return. Relatively harmless bad guys (Max...) will get mocked, but if you show him that it's a nature over nurture situation, he's more likely to let your bouts of bad-guy-ness pass. (Max.....) Dicks get treated like children because that's what you are. Be rude, he'll be rude back. Continue to aggravate him, and you'll earn a mark in his burn book. And trust me, guy. You do not want that.

BUTTONS TO PUSH
Some things that will immediately generate negative CR, even if Skulduggery seems to shrug it off: unrepentant murder, genocide, or torture of innocent people; saying, "i'm the killer supreme!" and being able to back it up; hurting or upsetting children for fun; not having a better motive than "i was bored" when causing misery and madness; being an evil faceless god; people who chew with their mouth open; implying something might be wrong with him; implying he may or may not be suffering severe psychological trauma and might need therapy; recklessly endangering the entire ship by starting a needless confrontation with the captain; and most importantly, STEALING HIS FUCKING SKULL WHILE HE'S SLEEPING!!!!

PERMISSIONS

OOC
Back-Tagging: Absolutely!
Handwaving: Contact me to handwave threads that need to end for whatever reason!
Thread-Hopping: Yes, especially if it's funny!
4th Wall: Unless we talk first, no thanks!
OOC Comments: Use them subject lines, use lil parenthesis, do whatever! I don't mind.
Please Don't: IC I'm cool with a lot of stuff, but OOC conversations about animal death or lots of talk about parents can bum me the fuck out.
Opt Out Info: Skulduggery is experiencing serious PTSD from his stint in a torturous hell dimension. You'll notice erratic behavior and talk of hallucinations. If you want me to tone that down or turn it off during our logs, that is totally doable! Of course, if for any reason, you don't want Skulduggery to tag you, just let me know! No harm, no foul.

POSITIVE CR
Physical Affection: Unless he has explicitly allowed physical affection with you in the past, it's unlikely he'll initiate or appreciate any physical contact. Even his established CR (Ava...) should probably ask before engaging with him in hugs, shoulder pats or whatever else.
Flirtations: He won't take you seriously. You're welcome to try, and he may very well flirt back, but he absolutely will not believe it's legitimate. If it is...
Kissing & More: Generally speaking, Skulduggery can't reciprocate kisses or most other stuff in a traditional sense. He's also not inclined to try romance on for himself. That being said, this skeleton is 100% a romanceable character -- but it will take time to develop, especially given his newfound distaste for physical contact.

NEGATIVE CR
Fighting: Both sparring and physical altercations are fine! But we should coordinate OOC.
Injuries: Let's hurt the bastard. Hit me up OOC so we can work it out!
Killing: Obviously yes, but let's talk OOC first so I can make sure it doesn't affect any plots.
Permadeath: That ain't a thing, chief, ain't you seen the news? Death don't matter on this ship!

ONE MORE THING
I'm not a big fan of the word "never" -- if you want to plan something with Skulduggery, I am definitely down to talk it out and see what happens!

FUN FACTS

• One time in 1861, Skulduggery had to hunt Nefarian Serpine down in South Dakota. He got to ride a horse! None of his friends will allow him to forget it.
• Skulduggery's most prized possesion is his car: a 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental. He will not shut up about it.
• Oh yeah, remember Serpine? That dick used Skulduggery's ribcage as a xylophone once. idk that's just fucking funny man
• Skulduggery dressed up as the Invisible Man for a 1980's Halloween party with his boyfriend best mortal friend Gordon Edgely.

TESSISAMESS