Post by The Jester on May 3, 2009 19:08:31 GMT -5
I realize that this guy is a rather important character, but I've been playing him for quite a while now and I think it's okay. I will tweak him a little to fit this site's rules, however. (Azrael likes to make comments now and then when I make a profile for him, by the way. These will be in italics.)
Name
As Death, he actually has quite a few names. He rather likes the Islamic religion's "Azrael", though.
It's pronounced like "Israel," but with "az" instead of "is."
Gender
Uh. A-Angels don't normally have features exclusive to a certain gender... B-But I guess he likes to call himself a guy?
Age
Mm, about as old as... eh, a few months or so (he doesn't remember) after Adam and Eve got booted out of Eden. After all, it was certain that they would die eventually now.
Species
Angel. Specifically, the Archangel of Death.
Status
Single. A being without gender can't exactly do much in a relationship, after all.
No, I'm not always shirtless. Sorry, girls, the photographer just happened to catch me on a particularly hot day.
If you were offended by the above in any way, fear not, I will shoot him later. And yes, I believe he is sitting on a crumbled statue of an angel. Possibly himself.
Appearance
Very rough and very unkempt raven black hair. He has not brushed that hair for at least 4000 years. He just hacks it off if it gets too unruly. He thinks it's a "cool style" that suits him.
It is! I'm rough and wild and so is my hair.
Moving on. Azrael's eyes are light grey, silver, you might say.
You rhymed.
I'm aware, Azrael. Anyway, his skin is rather pale, as he spends very little time in the sun. He wears all black, usually just a sleeveless shirt, pants, and those fancy dress shoes you can see in the picture. Sometimes he'll also wear a trenchcoat that he believes to be "badass", along with an Indiana Jones-esque fedora in black. I am honestly surprised his hair doesn't eat that hat.
He can retract his wings, in a way, sort of tuck them in. He makes them disappear, basically. The only sign of them when retracted is an intricate black tattoo on his back in the shape of small, outspread wings. I will add a picture of the design if I ever actually decide to make one.
By the way, I have to carry a pair of goggles with me at all times, otherwise flying would be really, really annoying. I look pretty cool with them on, I'm tol- ow!
Shut. Up. -smacked him just now-
Personality
Azrael is very laid back, and doesn't like doing something he'd rather not do.
Does anyone?
Probably not. Anyway, he spends most of his time lounging around somewhere, except when there's work to do. He doesn't have to take every soul to the afterlife, however, otherwise there would be no ghosts. A soul not taken away by the Archangel of Death will drift out on its own and become a wandering ghost. If he so wishes, Azrael can take these wanderers to the afterlife even if they've been stuck on Earth for over a thousand years (this has happened too many times to count).
Abilities/Skills/Weapons
For one thing, he has access to the realm of the afterlife. He can create portals to other areas on Earth, too, after all, it's very efficient to simply be instantly where you need to be. He likes to show off and use his scythe/claymore/whatever he's using at the time to cut open the portal.
He also has the ability to draw out a person's soul if he so wishes. Most of the time it's just to show off, and he will send the soul back to its respective body (or, prankster that he is, into a different body).
However, this ability is actually an occupational requirement. Every now and then someone whose time is up will survive an event meant to kill them. For example, if a person was to get into a car crash supposed to end their life, the soul may cling to the body, resulting in a comatose state. It's Azrael's job to remove these souls and send them on their way to the afterlife, but not after he's made sure that the only reason they're clinging so tightly to life is because they simply don't want to die, and don't have unfinished business on Earth. Those who do have unfinished business are still removed, but instead of being escorted to the afterlife, they are sent wandering as ghosts.
Souls usually look like small balls of silver light with wisps of smoke or something coming off in all directions.
To prevent his being discovered, Azrael can make himself invisible to mortals.
Azrael's usual weapon of choice imitates the infamous Grim Reaper.
In normal speak, I like to use a scythe. And it's actually the other way around, the Reaper is based off of me. Stories about sightings of me eventually degraded from "pale young man with a black trenchcoat, fedora and scythe" to "bleached-white skeleton with a black hooded cloak and scythe".
Quiet, you. Anyway, he'll also sometimes use a normal sword. He likes claymores in particular.
The blades may be thin, but they're d*mn sharp. Like my wit!
Careful, folks, don't cut yourselves.
She's been waiting for months to use that one- ow!
That's enough out of you. -smacked him again-
Hmph.
Moving on, Azrael also carries a switchblade. And that's about it for his abilities and weapons of choice. Other than flight, but that one's rather obvious.
History
Ever since he was first created, Azrael has had the job of escorting the souls of dead humans to the afterlife. At first, he did it without complaint, taking away soul after soul, as the human race continued to grow. He was emotionless.
But as he continued to take away souls of fallen humans, watching the deceased's relatives mourn them, crying and wailing, screaming in grief at the loss of their loved ones, he began to wonder why they acted this way. Death was a natural part of life, as was loss. Why make such a big deal about it? He would think about this endlessly in his spare time, eventually starting to watch humans in secret, to try and find out what made them go mad when they lost someone close to them. To try and find out what "close" actually meant.
And someone caught him.
A young woman, maybe a little older than 20, saw Azrael when he once let his guard down and stopped using his ability to become invisible to mortals.
Long story short, the woman basically saw Azrael randomly appear by someone's house. Needless to say, she was surprised. Azrael quickly ran over and clapped a hand over her mouth before she could scream or something, but he didn't know what to do after that. It was the first time since being created that he felt emotion: fear.
Fear of being discovered, fear of being thought of as a demon (I still wonder where the hell that one came from), and fear of being killed even when he, himself, was Death.
So what did he do, you ask?
He took a chance and explained himself to the woman. Luckily, she was a religious person, and believed him fully. She started helping him from then on. She told him about the human race, emotion, love, and grief. She helped him understand why humans went mad when their loved ones died.
And so did the ones who'd seen her with Azrael, and spread the word. Everyone in the village the girl lived in believed that the quiet black-haired man was a demon, sent by Satan to corrupt the residents of their little town. The young woman tried to explain that Azrael was not a demon, that he was an angel, but they would not believe her. Azrael was forced to reveal his wings, raven-black, but it only made the situation worse.
"What angel has black wings?!" "He's a demon!" "Kill him!"
These are the words that rang out from the mob (please note that it was probably a different language and this may not be fully accurate) as they pressed in on angel and woman. They threw rocks at the two, attempting to stone them to death. One well-aimed stone hit the girl directly in the head. She wobbled a little, and suddenly the entire mob started aiming for the heads of the two. After a few more hits, the woman's wobbling got worse, and finally, she started to fall. Azrael stared, then quickly caught her unconscious body. She was bleeding from multiple spots on her head. Azrael glared at the mob before wrapping his wings around the both of them and disappearing. The only thing left of him was a single, iridescent black feather.
A few miles outside the town, where Azrael had taken the woman, he was cradling her in his arms, praying that she would wake up. He had ripped his shirt up to make bandages of her wounds, but she was getting paler and colder by the minute.
Finally, a small sphere made of light rose out of the girl's chest, floating there for a few seconds in front of Azrael's disbelieving eyes.
Salty droplets of water began rolling down the Archangel's face. He cried out in what he thought felt like the worst pain imaginable. He didn't know why it hurt so much. After about half an hour of crying and occasionally screaming, Azrael opened a portal to the afterlife and let the girl's soul slip through.
Ever since then, Azrael has started gaining more and more emotions, gradually growing the wacky personality he has today. He's never forgotten that girl, and she's never forgotten him. Whenever he passes through the realm of the afterlife, she'll float over to say hi and ask how the world is nowadays.
And that's Azrael's history. There's really not that much to say about his and the Archangel of Life's meeting, anyway. They tend to travel together nowadays, though. To ensure people don't make... awkward assumptions concerning their being together, they tell people that they're half-brothers. They went with half-brothers instead of brothers because they look so different. No one would believe they were that closely related.
Other
Something that happens far more often than Azrael would like is him getting shot in the head. You'd think it would be impossible for Death to die, but no. If shot in the head, Azrael's own soul will drift out and become a wanderer. In this situation, it's the job of Azrael's partner (Archangel of Life, duh) to find his soul and return it to his (no doubt healed by the time Life finds the soul) body.
Sometimes it will be vice versa and Azrael will have to find the Archangel of Life's (he will be named in his own profile) missing soul.
Incidentally, Azrael has recently started wondering what would happen if they both became wanderers at the same time. He realizes that it would be catastrophic, and has thus started considering an assistant.
Theme Song
For now he has none, but I'll probably find something that fits him eventually. If you happen to have any suggestions please let me know.
Roleplay Sample
"WOOOHOOOO!!" A cry of sheer joy and excitement rang out as a man in all black took a running leap off of the Grand Canyon's edge. Fortunately, there was no one around to see huge, raven-black, feathered wings suddenly sprout from his back and start rapidly flapping up and down, otherwise the man would be in very big trouble with his stickler partner.
Azrael did flying leaps off of national monuments unusually frequently, much to the dismay of aforementioned stickler partner. He somehow thought only doing it at night made it okay, and usually shrugged off his partner's usual statement of "You're an idiot."
As he flew through the huge canyon, goggles on, Azrael wondered what he should do about his assistant dilemma. He needed an assistant, but who to get? A human? No, he wasn't likely to easily find a human willing to trek across the earth searching for 1-2 missing souls.
An angel? Nah, angels tended to shun black-winged angels as of late (can't be too sure who might be a demon in disguise these days).
A demon? ...hm. There wasn't really any pressing problem. Demons were strong, they wouldn't have to be granted immortality, and they probably wouldn't care that their master was in charge of guiding dead souls to the afterlife. Hell, they might be enthusiastic about it.
Demon it is. Wonder who I'll end up with. He thought, swooping up and out of the canyon and into a portal.
The profile for Azrael's assistant will be put up in about a week or so, so it will seem like it took him a while after this to find one.
In the meantime, you can enjoy my eventual Archangel of Life profile.
Name
As Death, he actually has quite a few names. He rather likes the Islamic religion's "Azrael", though.
It's pronounced like "Israel," but with "az" instead of "is."
Gender
Uh. A-Angels don't normally have features exclusive to a certain gender... B-But I guess he likes to call himself a guy?
Age
Mm, about as old as... eh, a few months or so (he doesn't remember) after Adam and Eve got booted out of Eden. After all, it was certain that they would die eventually now.
Species
Angel. Specifically, the Archangel of Death.
Status
Single. A being without gender can't exactly do much in a relationship, after all.
No, I'm not always shirtless. Sorry, girls, the photographer just happened to catch me on a particularly hot day.
If you were offended by the above in any way, fear not, I will shoot him later. And yes, I believe he is sitting on a crumbled statue of an angel. Possibly himself.
Appearance
Very rough and very unkempt raven black hair. He has not brushed that hair for at least 4000 years. He just hacks it off if it gets too unruly. He thinks it's a "cool style" that suits him.
It is! I'm rough and wild and so is my hair.
Moving on. Azrael's eyes are light grey, silver, you might say.
You rhymed.
I'm aware, Azrael. Anyway, his skin is rather pale, as he spends very little time in the sun. He wears all black, usually just a sleeveless shirt, pants, and those fancy dress shoes you can see in the picture. Sometimes he'll also wear a trenchcoat that he believes to be "badass", along with an Indiana Jones-esque fedora in black. I am honestly surprised his hair doesn't eat that hat.
He can retract his wings, in a way, sort of tuck them in. He makes them disappear, basically. The only sign of them when retracted is an intricate black tattoo on his back in the shape of small, outspread wings. I will add a picture of the design if I ever actually decide to make one.
By the way, I have to carry a pair of goggles with me at all times, otherwise flying would be really, really annoying. I look pretty cool with them on, I'm tol- ow!
Shut. Up. -smacked him just now-
Personality
Azrael is very laid back, and doesn't like doing something he'd rather not do.
Does anyone?
Probably not. Anyway, he spends most of his time lounging around somewhere, except when there's work to do. He doesn't have to take every soul to the afterlife, however, otherwise there would be no ghosts. A soul not taken away by the Archangel of Death will drift out on its own and become a wandering ghost. If he so wishes, Azrael can take these wanderers to the afterlife even if they've been stuck on Earth for over a thousand years (this has happened too many times to count).
Abilities/Skills/Weapons
For one thing, he has access to the realm of the afterlife. He can create portals to other areas on Earth, too, after all, it's very efficient to simply be instantly where you need to be. He likes to show off and use his scythe/claymore/whatever he's using at the time to cut open the portal.
He also has the ability to draw out a person's soul if he so wishes. Most of the time it's just to show off, and he will send the soul back to its respective body (or, prankster that he is, into a different body).
However, this ability is actually an occupational requirement. Every now and then someone whose time is up will survive an event meant to kill them. For example, if a person was to get into a car crash supposed to end their life, the soul may cling to the body, resulting in a comatose state. It's Azrael's job to remove these souls and send them on their way to the afterlife, but not after he's made sure that the only reason they're clinging so tightly to life is because they simply don't want to die, and don't have unfinished business on Earth. Those who do have unfinished business are still removed, but instead of being escorted to the afterlife, they are sent wandering as ghosts.
Souls usually look like small balls of silver light with wisps of smoke or something coming off in all directions.
To prevent his being discovered, Azrael can make himself invisible to mortals.
Azrael's usual weapon of choice imitates the infamous Grim Reaper.
In normal speak, I like to use a scythe. And it's actually the other way around, the Reaper is based off of me. Stories about sightings of me eventually degraded from "pale young man with a black trenchcoat, fedora and scythe" to "bleached-white skeleton with a black hooded cloak and scythe".
Quiet, you. Anyway, he'll also sometimes use a normal sword. He likes claymores in particular.
The blades may be thin, but they're d*mn sharp. Like my wit!
Careful, folks, don't cut yourselves.
She's been waiting for months to use that one- ow!
That's enough out of you. -smacked him again-
Hmph.
Moving on, Azrael also carries a switchblade. And that's about it for his abilities and weapons of choice. Other than flight, but that one's rather obvious.
History
Ever since he was first created, Azrael has had the job of escorting the souls of dead humans to the afterlife. At first, he did it without complaint, taking away soul after soul, as the human race continued to grow. He was emotionless.
But as he continued to take away souls of fallen humans, watching the deceased's relatives mourn them, crying and wailing, screaming in grief at the loss of their loved ones, he began to wonder why they acted this way. Death was a natural part of life, as was loss. Why make such a big deal about it? He would think about this endlessly in his spare time, eventually starting to watch humans in secret, to try and find out what made them go mad when they lost someone close to them. To try and find out what "close" actually meant.
And someone caught him.
A young woman, maybe a little older than 20, saw Azrael when he once let his guard down and stopped using his ability to become invisible to mortals.
Long story short, the woman basically saw Azrael randomly appear by someone's house. Needless to say, she was surprised. Azrael quickly ran over and clapped a hand over her mouth before she could scream or something, but he didn't know what to do after that. It was the first time since being created that he felt emotion: fear.
Fear of being discovered, fear of being thought of as a demon (I still wonder where the hell that one came from), and fear of being killed even when he, himself, was Death.
So what did he do, you ask?
He took a chance and explained himself to the woman. Luckily, she was a religious person, and believed him fully. She started helping him from then on. She told him about the human race, emotion, love, and grief. She helped him understand why humans went mad when their loved ones died.
And so did the ones who'd seen her with Azrael, and spread the word. Everyone in the village the girl lived in believed that the quiet black-haired man was a demon, sent by Satan to corrupt the residents of their little town. The young woman tried to explain that Azrael was not a demon, that he was an angel, but they would not believe her. Azrael was forced to reveal his wings, raven-black, but it only made the situation worse.
"What angel has black wings?!" "He's a demon!" "Kill him!"
These are the words that rang out from the mob (please note that it was probably a different language and this may not be fully accurate) as they pressed in on angel and woman. They threw rocks at the two, attempting to stone them to death. One well-aimed stone hit the girl directly in the head. She wobbled a little, and suddenly the entire mob started aiming for the heads of the two. After a few more hits, the woman's wobbling got worse, and finally, she started to fall. Azrael stared, then quickly caught her unconscious body. She was bleeding from multiple spots on her head. Azrael glared at the mob before wrapping his wings around the both of them and disappearing. The only thing left of him was a single, iridescent black feather.
A few miles outside the town, where Azrael had taken the woman, he was cradling her in his arms, praying that she would wake up. He had ripped his shirt up to make bandages of her wounds, but she was getting paler and colder by the minute.
Finally, a small sphere made of light rose out of the girl's chest, floating there for a few seconds in front of Azrael's disbelieving eyes.
Salty droplets of water began rolling down the Archangel's face. He cried out in what he thought felt like the worst pain imaginable. He didn't know why it hurt so much. After about half an hour of crying and occasionally screaming, Azrael opened a portal to the afterlife and let the girl's soul slip through.
Ever since then, Azrael has started gaining more and more emotions, gradually growing the wacky personality he has today. He's never forgotten that girl, and she's never forgotten him. Whenever he passes through the realm of the afterlife, she'll float over to say hi and ask how the world is nowadays.
And that's Azrael's history. There's really not that much to say about his and the Archangel of Life's meeting, anyway. They tend to travel together nowadays, though. To ensure people don't make... awkward assumptions concerning their being together, they tell people that they're half-brothers. They went with half-brothers instead of brothers because they look so different. No one would believe they were that closely related.
Other
Something that happens far more often than Azrael would like is him getting shot in the head. You'd think it would be impossible for Death to die, but no. If shot in the head, Azrael's own soul will drift out and become a wanderer. In this situation, it's the job of Azrael's partner (Archangel of Life, duh) to find his soul and return it to his (no doubt healed by the time Life finds the soul) body.
Sometimes it will be vice versa and Azrael will have to find the Archangel of Life's (he will be named in his own profile) missing soul.
Incidentally, Azrael has recently started wondering what would happen if they both became wanderers at the same time. He realizes that it would be catastrophic, and has thus started considering an assistant.
Theme Song
For now he has none, but I'll probably find something that fits him eventually. If you happen to have any suggestions please let me know.
Roleplay Sample
"WOOOHOOOO!!" A cry of sheer joy and excitement rang out as a man in all black took a running leap off of the Grand Canyon's edge. Fortunately, there was no one around to see huge, raven-black, feathered wings suddenly sprout from his back and start rapidly flapping up and down, otherwise the man would be in very big trouble with his stickler partner.
Azrael did flying leaps off of national monuments unusually frequently, much to the dismay of aforementioned stickler partner. He somehow thought only doing it at night made it okay, and usually shrugged off his partner's usual statement of "You're an idiot."
As he flew through the huge canyon, goggles on, Azrael wondered what he should do about his assistant dilemma. He needed an assistant, but who to get? A human? No, he wasn't likely to easily find a human willing to trek across the earth searching for 1-2 missing souls.
An angel? Nah, angels tended to shun black-winged angels as of late (can't be too sure who might be a demon in disguise these days).
A demon? ...hm. There wasn't really any pressing problem. Demons were strong, they wouldn't have to be granted immortality, and they probably wouldn't care that their master was in charge of guiding dead souls to the afterlife. Hell, they might be enthusiastic about it.
Demon it is. Wonder who I'll end up with. He thought, swooping up and out of the canyon and into a portal.
The profile for Azrael's assistant will be put up in about a week or so, so it will seem like it took him a while after this to find one.
In the meantime, you can enjoy my eventual Archangel of Life profile.
