Who Are You, Really?

A friend and I were running through missions as a duo this weekend. I was playing one of my few supernatural characters, and got to thinking how some villain groups might look to the Sight - the ability (voluntary or not) to look past the mundane surface and see the spirit within. Arachnos Tarantulas, for example, are already creepy enough - especially the Mistresses - even with most of the awfulness of what's been done to them hidden behind armor plate; in the spirit realm, however, they must appear positively Gigerian. The motley-clad minions of the Carnival of Shadows don't look so bad at first... until one notices the strings tugging at them, and the fact that there's nothing, absolutely nothing behind the empty eye holes of the masks.

This thought led in turn to a familiar subject among my playgroup. It's customary to keep a costume slot on our characters to represent that truest, essential self when visiting Croatoa, the Psychic Plane, etc. Here are several of mine, including details that would be difficult or impossible to depict in-game. I hope that this will inspire others to imagine and share how their character(s) might appear to those with eyes to see.



Miss Megajoule - is clad in armor resembling the Justice set, in silver and light blue. In her right hand is a sword whose blade is blue cleansing flame; on the back of her left forearm is a blue energy shield that swirls like a soap bubble. The fine engravings on her armor are actually physics equations.

Sky Raider X - wears a modern U.S. Army uniform from which all insignia has been torn away. The uniform bears the cuts and holes of many old wounds, with accompanying dried bloodstains. His eyes are always shadowed by the rim of his helmet. On his back are a pair of (functional) steel wings, with sharp feathers.

the Watchmaker - wears, along with his customary suit, a jester's cap within a battered crown. (He's tried taking it off, but it sticks stubbornly.) A large pocket watch, with a cracked face and missing most of its innards, yet still ticking, hangs from a fob. In one hand he holds a tarnished brass flute, whose merry piping compels obedience and/or dancing.

Taxibot Gamma - is a Tin Woodsman-style metal man painted yellow and black and checkerboard. A door in his chest opens to reveal not a heart, but a gem which shines with a bright green light that hurts to look at and burns the skin.

the Spirit of the Row - is a large man dressed in 1930s fashion (shirt and trousers, fedora, long coat, scuffed shoes) with a scarf wrapped around his face under his eyes, in the style of the old "mystery men". An aura of power surrounds him; despite his humble attire, he carries himself with the quiet dignity of a king.

Officer Martinez - normally appears to most people as an ordinary Paragon cop. But in the realm of spirits, anyone can see him for what he really is: a vengeful ghost shrouded in the dark energies of the Netherworld, his shirt always wet with fresh blood from his mortal wounds.



the Abomination - is monstrous; there's no other word for it. This crudely stitched-together ogre is larger, stronger, angrier, more real than the pale shades and stumbling puppets that are most of Vahzilok's minions. Shadows gather around him whenever he stands still for more than a moment, but he's never completely still, twitching and snarling.

Dr. Forsythe - would be dressed in a surgeon's garb of cap, mask and scrubs, which are soaked to the elbows and knees with the bright red blood that pools around his feet, leaving a slowly-fading trail behind him. His eyes are kind yet terribly sad.

Foxtrot Maiko - is a bare-faced Japanese girl on the edge of womanhood, her slim form poured into a dark catsuit. Her fingers are knives. She holds a pair of gymnast's ribbons on short sticks; these are also razor-edged, and trail gracefully behind her as she twirls and skips. And she always smiles, even when the blood sprays across her innocent face.

Operative Kowalski - is a thug, plain and simple. A little taller, perhaps, than the other Arachnos goons; and he gets a tattered spidersilk Huntsman's cape with a fancy collar, along with the single nearly-invisible thread leading back to his master. But his spirit is still a nasty, twisted, brutish thing.

I tend to think of characters from this angle, anyway. I blame years of always needing to consider miens in Changeling.

Blazeknight - Pretty similar to how she looks normally, except fire would be really prevalent. Smoldering footprints, occasional embers drifting out of her mouth when she exhaled...

Hail Striker - Outright mummified in ofuda, but still recognizable as being a healthy, normal girl beneath it.

Jessica Reid - Dressed like a caricature of a millionaire, complete with all-white suit and wide-brimmed hat. Which would hide her entire face except for a grinning, pointy-tooted mouth.

Kai-Lian - Like herself, if she were about 20 years older, purely human, and dressed like the type of lawyer that would sue you into the ground by exploiting every legal loophole known to man.

Liora Kate - Like some sort of downright alien little imp thing and a little kid at the same time. You'd swear she looked normal until you saw an eye in her hair staring at you from out of the corner of your eye, or a fanged mouth open on her arm for just a second.

Qiao Huang - Exactly like she looks now. You don't live that long without becoming purely yourself metaphysically. In such circumstances, inanimate objects would probably move to inconvenience her enough for other people to notice, since she sold all of her good luck for superpowers.

Rogue Arcanist - Akira levels of biotech weirdness. I'm thinking she'd look about like she normally does, but with one arm replaced by a horrifying mishmash of unnatural tech and black tentacles.

Shatterware - Like a super-wholesome teenage girl from the 1950s. The sort that'd make Dorothy from Wizard of Oz look downright scandalous and knows how to curtsey.

Silead the Lament - A doll with her strings cut. That imagery was part of her original concept, really.

Silverbuilt - Probably the most abstract thing possible while still symbolizing a human--a perfectly human-shaped silhouette with no source. In silver, of course.

Sorrow-Weave - Would be an outright grinning monster. She (incorrectly) fancies herself a demigoddess and will brutally murder people for fun.

Interesting question, of which deserves a well thought out Answer.

I will start with Mariel Martog My Main. She was born an elf, and she was meant to be a force for evil. However, when I rolled her, long before city of villains, I changed her slightly using a long and sadly poorly written RP dialog. In that story I described how she went from being an Elf in a Sword and sorcery world, who had just drunk a potion made from the blood of succubi. To being kept by fashionable French Vampires in Boston, over time she has been cured of her curse and is free of any evil taint. This has left her as a pure lawful good being. Her true form has changed so much that she is now a being of light in elven form.

However since we now have Praetorian versions to play with, the Praetorian Marhiel is a bit different she was born good. However, in her fight for what is just she has become a criminal and a rather ruthless defender of the weak and innocent. Her true self is still elven but she loves tech and is very much grey.
As for costume sets see the pictures included. Notice the contrast.

Mariel walking about town
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...H/urbanelf.jpg

Mariel Martog true self costume
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/gothicshark/city%20of/MarielCOH/MarielArmor1.jpg

When in combat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rielArmor2.jpg

Marhiel Martog

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rhielguns1.jpg

in combat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rhielguns2.jpg

Interesting idea, and one that resonates strongly with me. I'm a firm believer in the masking concept, that almost everyone masks their true selves to some degree, and some (like myself) mask it completely, at least offline, but that's getting creepy and psuedo-psychological so I'll just get on to my characters

Sakura Izumi, my Ninjas/Thermal mastermind looks drastically different. In the material plane she appears as a lightly armored high school-aged girl with a mask, using a minor glamour to alter her normal appearance, so that when she "goes incognito" it's harder to put two and two together. Her spirit appears as a "purified" female Oni with a blazing white aura, but not blinding to look at.

Aria of Winter appears as a living representation of frost. Where she walks, the ground frosts over beneath her feet, her skin is like crystalline ice, but her hair, by contrast, flows like water, tinted a tropical blue (A hint of warmth amid a sea of frost)

Metiana, my only other 'teen' character appears mostly as she does in the material plane, except that instead of her patched-together, shabby steampunk armor, she's dressed in the same tattered nightgown she wore for weeks following her parents' murder, orphaning her in the Rogue Isles a year ago, and her 'spirit' still clings to the old stuffed bear, one button eye hanging loosely, its stuffings starting to fall out a small tear in its belly.

She's probably my most inwardly 'tortured', complex character, at that.

Psychic Strike actually has the Sight, granted to her by a ... for lack of a better word, "psychic ghost", played by a friend, who found the fact that Rebecca for a long time wore a full helmet to shield herself from the myriad thoughts of the outside world a fascinating and saddening notion.

Despite her stoic and often very untrusting nature outwardly, her spirit self appears quite laid-back, dressed either in a floral print sun dress or a swimsuit, looking like she belongs right at home surfing a big wave (She's half-Polynesian, and her thoughts are always in what she lost at the cost of her powers)

That about covers my active, semi-active, or at least possibly-heard-of characters, except Crimson Willow, but she's one I haven't developed enough to really have an idea of how her hopes, dreams, and fears would shape how others would see her.

Huh. I have so many alts, it's hard to choose.. I'll pick my favourites.

Maulgar: Would look pretty much like his human form, but looking disheveled and his face would have a weary sadness while clenching his fists until the knuckles turned white.

Silpheed: A vauge, human-shaped blob of Kheldian energy. Her presence would bring a sense of serene calm.

The Witching: Non-Euclidean ahoy! The area she would be in would seem to pull into itself, like something poking a hole into reality. The whole time, you could feel something watching you from every angle.

Crack-Down: A stern-looking woman dressed in a worn and faded Praetorian Police uniform, her badge corroded. If anyone caught her gaze, she would smile malevolently at them.

Mewn: A rather plain looking Metis woman. She would be constantly be followed by small spirits of the land, of which she seems to be entirely oblivious, or willfully ignorant, of their presence.

Saress: A young catgirl in a summer dress who constantly tugs on your sleeve, demanding you pay attention to her and only her.

To quote some characters I have in my list, as this is a fascinating concept:

Shadowstormm: Appears as somberly as he always does, except for a few noted differences. His right arm appears burned and charred, damaged beyond use but still functional. Gunsmoke wafts from the eyes of his mask instead of their usual glow and he leaves a constant trail of blood-stained bullet casings in his wake.

Novastriker: Appears as a towering figure in gleaming armor, decorated with winged and feathered designs. From his back jut two wings, appearing to be constructed entirely from holographic polygons which glow vibrant blue.

Shatterfox: Appears as a maskless ninja, eyes blindfolded, weeping a sickly, black liquid as a large eye peers from the middle of his chest.

Black Lancet: Appears as a hooded and caped Bowman in forest green, a collection of open shackles slung over one shoulder, a hefty sack of coin on his hip next to his quiver.

Steel Glaive: Appears as warrior in brushed steel armor, it cracked and bent in places but still looking as though it were a day old. On his back is a glaive which he can't draw, a tall shield on his arm that he can't remove.

I have a bucketload of alts, but these are my more predominant characters.

Jessica Wrench: Decked out in Freakshow parts. (Obviously can't make this yet) Her outer shell always hit the fact that her emotional state has been patchworked together.


Shri'taki: Appears as the scared little girl she was when she left her home planet as a peacebringer. Since she had a different personality when she fused, once she was separated she had to quickly catch up with herself.



aaaand, that's all I have right now.

Interesting. As another player with a lot of Mage: the Ascension and Changeling: the Dreaming experience, this is something I've given some thought to with a few of my characters.


Eisenzahn - Having dedicated most of his adult life to cultivating a personal mythos of being the Scariest Man In the World, Eisenzahn has largely abandoned any consistent sense of self, except whatever would work best to terrify a target. An assassin for hire, he hopes some day to achieve a state of such sublime intimidation that the mere suggestion someone may have contacted him for a hit will inspire potential targets to commit suicide in despair. He is already very close to this state of being. More than one target in poor physical health has been pushed into a fatal stroke or heart attack by the well-timed mention of his name.

As such, to those capable of seeing such things, he has no consistent shape. He appears to be whatever each viewer would least like to be confronted with. However, his sensei called him the Centipede Prince as he lay dying in Eisenzahn's arms, and the image of that most abhorrent of creatures magnified to a nightmarishly vast scale is probably a very consistent feature for any who lack a more well-defined personal fear to envision him as.


Lunaticia - Luna's soul has the volume dialed up to 11. She lives her life in ALL CAPS, BOLD PRINT! WOOHOO!! She's probably like ten feet tall and made of living lightning. But still totally hot. If she is making an effort to calm and restrain herself, her self-image would very closely match the reality (a 5'4" hawaiian/japanese girl with the sort of absurdly low body fat and sculpted musculature that only Fitness Magazine covermodels ever manage to achieve, and then only with extensive photoshop support), except that the Azure Dragon tattoos that normally coil down her arms would roam over her body at will, scales flashing crimson with the Mu Runes hidden in the design as her abundant personal energy tried to break free. Also, her hair would be waaay longer, like a friggin' Barbie Doll, or Ghost Widow. She may or may not carry a ginormous warhammer, because that is what an aspiring Thunder God does.


Pandemonika - Lunaticia's Praetorian counterpart received a great deal more discipline during her training. She would appear largely like Lunaticia, but the frequency with which she chooses to restrain herself and the frequency with which she chooses to unleash the full force of her ridiculous titanic might would be more or less inverted. Her spiritual self would have no need for essential weapons or other regalia... but would be much more likely to generate profound environment-distorting weather effects at a larger distance.


Sturmlanzer - A slate-skinned angel with wings like terrible winter stormclouds stretching across the horizon. He is blindfolded with a cloth woven of The Law, and bound in chains forged from Honor and Obligation. His Halo is muted, shrouded in rags, and hangs from his belt. He is unarmed, but his callused hands speak of a lifetime or more holding weapons. His skin is scarred as if by burns, jagged lightning-bolt streaks that the especially perceptive will see detail a litany of his crimes and failures in the First Language of Eden.

But sometimes he's just a man, much as he appears in the flesh. One eye is real, one eye is glass. He carries a spear, two wolves follow at his heels, and two ravens perch on his shoulders, under the shelter of his broad-brimmed hat. There is a rope bruise around his neck, and he bleeds from a wound in his side. It is a terrible thing to be torn between two destinies... and a more terrible thing to be the instrument by which the world may end in either of them.


The Quixotic Paladin - One of those scary sort of people who look exactly to Spirit Sight as they do in the flesh. The unenlightened may assume that this suggests a lack of depth and sophistication. The more insightful would recognize a Buddha-like level of personal tranquility. No matter what sword he carries in the real world (and he has many, mostly gifts from grateful citizens who heard a rumor that he collects them... some ornate,some built to exacting specifications using advanced technology, most salvaged from Pawn Shops, Reniassance Fairs and Late Night Home Shopping Channel viewing, but at least one genuinely enchanted), the weapon he weilds appears... plain. Uninteresting. Totally unornamented. And very very sharp.

Some great and fascinating responses so far. I'm glad others picked up on the "masks" aspect, in a genre where our characters wear even more than the usual ones; and as for miens and such, let's just say I almost wrote "in the Umbra" in my first post.

Interesting. I have an odd situation, however. My main, WildClaw, *might* appear exactly as he already does. It depends on what you are really and truely able to see. The choices being: the person's unconcious self-image, or the person's true soul.

His current appearance is due to a metamorphic 'curse' (it's more complex than that, but curse is reasonable shorthand), where his physical form has been permenantly transformed into an actualized self-image. Problem being, he doesn't like himself very much, so he was transformed based on both his dreams, but more importantly his fears. So he's this horrendous fearsome wolf-man-thing because that's what he really believes his soul is like. He really thinks he's a monster, so that's what his physical form has taken.

His actual soul-stuff is different. Fearsome and fierce, yes, but also steadfast and loyal, with an almost fanatical desire for personal freedom for himself and others. As such, the wolf-man might still show up, but with a more new-agey totem animal cast to it.

That's a toughie. I think Modern Samurai would look rather more like a Jedi Knight than an actual samurai. Robes torn, holed, dirtied up, looking like he's been fighting on the front lines of the Clone Wars for months, but still ready to kick some butt.

Belle Liberty... I'm honestly not sure. Probably heavily influenced by the Valkyrie set in the costume creator, I'd imagine, and again, beat to hell, but still strong and vital.

Wyld Fyre - Jae would look like herself, in faded bellbottom jeans, a short sleeved shirt cut short at the midriff, long auburn red hair falling in big curls from a headband, an assortment of tech parts drift around her, wherever she steps it leaves an echo of energy, she's a very transparant girl who's never seen the need to be anyone but herself.

Terra Aureus - A statuesque female warrior with sword, wearing an iron circlet and possessing a commanding aura. Her dress would shift to something appropriate for the area/setting but maintaining the role as vigilante protector.

Dark-wave - Lina is a psi, and would appear as a semi-transparent purple tinged image of herself, not much more than an outline with a slight glow, with a network of fine iridescent threads running off into places connected to her

Kai is Kai, she is her idealized self :7

Bya-ko - She would appear as a slightly built white tiger with jade green eyes...she is the result of an unsanctioned relationship within a patriarchal planned family...one of the tigers, but not quite the same as the rest or quite as strong.

I'll think up more later

I'm only clear on a few of mine, and some of them I don't play much currently.

Leaden Dove is a lurching mass of shadow, bound into a roughly humanoid shape by chains, ropes, bits of string, and apparently anything that was available.

Spiritwise looks about the same as she does normally, but with ghostly wisps whirling around her and trailing behind, talking, whispering, or screaming just on the edge of hearing. She doesn't seem to notice them.

Borderwalker looks faded and slightly transparent regardless of her current state. She seems disconnected from her surroundings, and from this perspective her interactions with mundane objects seem labored, as if manipulating them and passing through them are equally difficult.

Hexblaze wears a bloodied and torn cloak and robes or her normal clothes, also worse for wear, by turns. She looks weary but determined to drag herself along. A faint second image of herself is superimposed on her, but it doesn't always manage to match her movements.

Street Valkyrie wears her paramedic uniform, but her wings have torn through the back and her armor shows at her neck and hands. She appears to have her official sword and raven-emblazoned shield with her regardless of which set she's actually using or if she's even armed.

Sulphurous is a wiry, skittery young man in his shirtsleeves, still wearing Jane's fine, silver chain necklace. The skin under it is raw. He looks terrified.

Is this what the toon would look like if they appeared on the psychic plane?

That's the general idea, yes. (Or to someone with the ability to see spirits.)

Disciple of Burn - Pure white/blue flame dances over his body and he is scarred by its very touch and yet heals as it passes - he feels each touch and is seared to his soul. Thus his next Sermon on the Church of Burn is born of the sacrifice of pain and the cleansing of its touch.


Thwak - Bersark and in surrender to its madness. Thwak uses a sword and his willpower to fuel his endless hunger for Justice and Right. Surrounded by evil with gore dripping from his face he sings loudly, "I won't back down" by Tom Petty.


Mab Queen of Winter - she is beauty and terror a mask that shifts back and forth. The cold of winter and yet the promise of spring. She is a Queen and powerful beyond reckoning and yet, when the Universe began it sprung from the depths of her frozen hands and as it winds down it will grow cold and dark again as she once again awaits the spring.

Blaize - Kenna would be an ethereal winged female form made of golden flame, transitioning to orange at the edges

Black Symphony - Eziekel/Zeke, a dark figure as if covered in black paint, abstract sigils and designs in intense colors snaking around, intensifying and then fading, across his skin, wearing a bright magenta collar tied by a bright magenta cord with a black afterimage to Azkythe/Az, naked aside from broken bits of black chain and a matching bright magenta collar, eyes glowing magenta and demonic wings whole instead of torn

Roxy Acetylene - Constantly shifting there/not there white plasmic flame, glimpses of a bright shining black core and strands of bright red hair out of the corner of the eyes

Kyle Rymes - Much like himself, with long braided hair wearing a black mandarin shirt with frayed seams where sleeves were removed, blood stained hand wraps and eyes always in shadow, irises a gold-red

DJ Facade - a blank white humaniod figure, a kalidescopic array of evershifting colors where a face should be

Killswitch Nine/Raze - Pretty much like Raze, a barcode tattoo encircling his neck, clothing and weapons shifting with the setting but weapons always present

India Ink - A ink-line female human form

Valerie Vincent - Dressed in a post apocalyptic excuse for a uniform blazoned New Chicago Security Force but otherwise the same

I've run out of characters I remember offhand :7

Hrm. I hadn't thought about it really, but seeing this post has caused me to do so. Most of my characters I didn't think would look much different, but upon reflection...

Jericho Stone. You'd see him as he normally appears, but brighter and more intense. Also within him you'd see a super intense black spot, like what a black hole might look like if you could see one. There would be a kind of fuse or coupling, attaching the blackness and the intensity together. When it is on, blackness would leak through it, and he'd appear even brighter. He'd also have an aura. It would be as if hundreds or thousands of ghostlike versions of himself were all starting some other action, or looking in every direction simultaneously. (If you saw the Nicholas Cage film "Next", think of when he was searching the ship.)

Fire Forged: He'd look like the Balrog in LotR. His final costume slot will be something along those lines. There'd also be a tiny, almost imperceptable light near his heart, regardless if he was in full flame or not. It flickers, but refuses to die out.

Street Viking. He would be a little bigger, and would have either a raven or a wolf nearby, or be wearing an eyepatch depending on the situation ( In game, he'd have to go with the patch obviously). He'd have a chain mail vest instead of his biker vest, and his sword and shield would be with him.

Ahklun: Granite armor, but since he's a dom and can't get it I'd have to use crumbling aura and the stone looking skins from the costume generator. A walking mountain.

Ardarel. He'd appear as an angel, with a flaming sword of intense blue flame. He'd be wearing a flaming iron halo, his clothes would be of fine quality, but worn, and chains would drag from his ankles.

Seraph is self explanatory, his half demon heritage makes him a Devil. In the lore I have going Devils are equal in strength and statue as an inverted Seraphim. He's a hybrid in any case, because the philosophy is that you don't become a devil simply due to blood but because of your awareness when dwelling into your demonic nature (IE: If your not careful you become what you hate - hence monstrous demons). I supposed to an extent his primal form is that of a stereotypical Satan (wings, horns, disproportionate Gargantua-like form). But upon gaining his individuality while donning that demonic form, becoming self aware and the like, his belief becomes the source of the transformation into a more humanoid-prince like demon.


Saber Wolf or Matt Shepard is human by all accounts who merely dons a nano-like suit that allows him to prowl the streets. He was in the Delta force thus he has military training.

Walking Grave is pretty much a zombie. Nathan Hallows was a mob-hitman, working for a mob group who ended up betraying him and getting him killed. Out of a sick joke Death granted him immortality to where he simply cannot die. So he runs around with an axe and pistols, doing outrageously suicidal stuff to kill his enemies.

And I have more not in the mood to type up. >_<

Great, next she'll be asking "what do we want" and then we'll need a Vorlon to put stop to this crap. This is an interesting concept, I've been using "soul vision" to justfy Jack' belief in Santa for years (Long before Superman got it, the thieves. First they steal my armored tech blaster with an armor stored in his bones ala extremis then soul vision...sigh at least I'm in good company )
but I have no idea what my characters would manifest as.

This is a toughie, but I love these sorts of imagination exercises so here are some of mine;

(H)Rose Maiden: Around her head is a dark purple nimbus, her body seems split in two like Two face, one half in the super wonder woman esq suit the gold old and a bit tarnished, the cape a bit blood splattered and torn, her stance strong her eyes a fierce piercing blue. The other half a silk dress of Dove gray hair down in soft waves about her face, small wire frame glasses hiding large blue eyes. In the stance of Mary and the Sacred heart her heart glows a deep healing green.

(H)Clinique: Small and pale, hair a brilliant red of a dark rose, wearing a pink dress made of silken vales she seems to sleep below a large oak tree with flowering vines twining and growing from her bare feet and fingers. Green eyes wide and innocent but her lips parted in a half smile. Healthy verdant Botanical eden surrounds her.

(N)Sophie Storm AKA Grim Repose: Wasted burnt and Gray like an old WWII photograph she stands at the center surrounded by white ghostly shapes which fly around her in an ever expanding bubble with faces screaming and crying their tortured lives. She stands in a tattered death shroud, a gun in one hand and the head of a zombie in the other. Her eyes glow a defiant gray, cold and menacing, while her face is formed in the crying pout of a lost and frightened child.

(V)Circyan: Wild half naked, crouched in a beastly stance long black hair knotted and full of twigs and leaves. Black merciless eyes which eye all that she surveys hungrily. Mouth and hands blood stained.

I have others but these four I have done the most RP with in order to have a sense of who they are if shown to the minds eye.

Heh, this will be interesting, since three of my toons inhabit the same physical body.

Celine Dioscuria (Brute/Stalker): Celine is a walking nerve. Probably a translucent form of a bipedal predator of indistinct morphology, but beneath which is easily visible the throbbing, raw and bloody skein of the anatomy of the human nervous system. That is, except for her head, which is a strange and vertiginous void. She has a mind, but where does that mind lead to? (For those who don't know her, while her psychic/astral self is rather inhuman, her physical body is actually very human)

Selene Dioscuria (Scrapper): Selene is a whirlwind of various bits of herself. Standing still (or at least being inert) she would look like a relatively normal version of herself. However, if she is actually conscious, her body fractures into bits and pieces of anatomy, memory, and emotion. Brillant lights, all-devouring shadows. While she might act in harmony, she is never acting as a whole.

Fang Widow Foyle (Widow, duh): Aurora appears much as she once did a long time ago, as human Blood Widow. Her uniform and her spiritual self is tainted, however, by a frightening and horrible shadow wrapped within her "body". Occasionally it will surface as some alien monstrosity of twisted flesh and wrecked bone, but mostly stays under the "surface". She too has a tether from her wrists and heart back to her master.

Others:

Lady Burlesque: Tessa's spiritual presence is actually extremely normal. Because underneath every goddess is a simple woman. Her shadow, on the other hand, is deeply textured and far more glamourous than she is, but with a palpable sense of cold allure and haughty entitlement.

Cryopulse: Her spiritual self actually splits into two people. One is an older, adult version of herself, a bit wrinkled around the eyes and a little heavier around the physique. Experience dims but deepens her eyes. With her is a much younger child-version of herself open-hearted and bright-eyed, only a bit scuffed around the edges. In contrast to the normal adult-child dynamic it is the younger-self (Soul) that leads the older (Ego).

Jaime Synge: Looking at Synge through the Sight is asking for a headache. Synge initially looks like himself, stained by common sins and pettiness. Then, his skin begins to ripple with saturated arcane energy, wreathing him in blue soulflame, crowned with a halo of orange arcs of pagan thunderbolts, and accented by a pair of wings formed of sullen forge-fire. Which is about the time you notice his body is crudely and cruelly pierced and threaded through with thick, ugly, heavy grey chains (left over by his capture by the Legacy Chain). Beyond that, his spiritual form explodes into thousands of other overlapping soul forms - resulting in his appearance being much like a Hindu icon illustrating multiple prior incarnations. Within that burns a tight, dense ball of white-hot flame - one that expands and can easily swallow the viewer, blinding them just as easily as if they were staring directly into the sun.

I have other toons, but don't know their characters well enough to say.

Disclaimer: I've been waiting for something like this. For some of my characters their symbiote others are semi-psionic spectral entities that are native to the varying levels of the 'Void' - essentially the whole Soul Sight/Void Sight thing is just glimpsing into their native habitat and they are native to the deeper layers in themselves. So forgive me for going on a bit with this.

Jake Love (Flea Mark Evil/Tempest/Terror/Siege) - Jake's subspecies of the Flea specie has this unique trait of being able to step into the Void - ICly this has always been represented by the use of the Stealth and Hide powers and as a result Jake's always been able to glance into this aspect if he wanted to.

He's symbiotically linked with an entity that calls itself The Wraith. The Wraith came into being with the death of another dimension, the result of an entire world's emotions of fear, hatred, anger, sorrow etc. at the point of death, manifesting in the form of a singular psionic entity born of pure emotion. Over time this entity has fragmented (as will be seen in following characters) but the original Wraith still remains. The Wraith is partially responsible for the divide of the Flea specie - which sees them born in pairs, sharing half a soul each - one is physically stronger but less intelligent and cunning, the other weaker, capable of walking the Void and much more cunning.

When Jake was born he was born alone - and linked directly to the Source of the Wraith subspecies rather than a sliver as his other kin had been. Outside of the Void slivers of the Wraith can become visible at will - this generally manifests in the form of flickering blue and white flames that dance over his body and eyes, the most extreme changes being crystalline armoured plating and wings though for the most part it is at any one point 90% host, 10% Wraith symbiote.

In the deeper levels of the Void (Soul Sight etc.) the ratio of visible Host to Symbiote shifts - at the deepest level it would appear as follows.

A large, pale blue-white tone humanoid form covered in pale blue crystalline plates and spines which seem to glow with flickering internal flames. The eyes glow purest white and there is no hair, no nose, no ears and no jaw though the face is angular and pointed. There is a curved crown of crystalline horns that run back along the skull of this entity and the arms end in jagged, crimson stained talons which seem to constantly drip with blood. From the back protrude six bladed wings, giving the impression of some sort of otherworldly mockery of an angel of sorts.

Beneath the Wraith-symbiote itself Jake's own soul alters. At the deepest level his own soul appears simply as him, with cold black eyes, clad in ornate black leather and silver Grecian armour, adorned with motifs and dedications to Hades, as would suit a General of the God of the Dead. When in his Hades aspect he is surrounded by a halo of pale white light and carries weapons appropriate to the era.


Jake Love (Despair 'Ascended') - An alternate version of Jake from a timeline where the Despair symbiote won over the Wraith...the fusion was never complete. The host, in time died and is little more than a crumbling shell animated by an unstable and utterly insane symbiote which constantly craves the energy of others to sustain itself. Having come back in time to prevent its 'father' from taking the course that would see it never exist Despair is a mess. His host form is cracked and dead, withered and aged and in very poor condition. Great curving spines of living black Souleater metal have erupted from a corruption of the host and completely replaced his talons.

Note: The Souleaters are the sentient blades that Jake carries, relics from his home dimension and leftovers from the event that caused it to form in the first place. For all intents and purposes they do exactly as it says on the tin - Eat Souls.

Much like his 'father' the primal form is a 90%/10% ratio which alters the further down you go into the Void. Where the Wraith was almost angelic the unhinged Despair clearly is not. Its form is deep blade with lurid green tinged metallic spines and blades arching over it. The eyes flicker shades of green to crimson and the face is just as angular but opens into a leering maw full of razor sharp teeth. Again, talons are present on hands and feet and a lashing barbed tail completes the daemonic appearance. But the form is never truly solid, always flickering, seeming to barely cling to the dead blackened shell of the host beneath it.


Jake Love (Zero - Despair Perfect) - Where Despair is unhinged, unstable and incomplete Zero is not. Another time traveller the fusion was near perfect and the host is cruel, callous and lives off of fear. One arm has been replaced by a cybernetic, ending in the same hooked talons as the Wraith-forms of the previous two symbiotes mentioned. Again, the symbiote's form varies the deeper down into the void you go with the same proportions.

The Wraith is almost angelic in its appearance.
Despair 'Ascendant' is daemonic.
Despair Perfect is, in this case a dark angel. Much like the Wraith the form is humanoid, the crystal spines and slates a deep violet over black nightshade tones of 'skin', glowing with purple flame. The eyes are crimson but most importantly the wings are black and feathered. Again there is no mouth, no nose, no true facial features however there is relatively long white hair that flows behind like liquid.

In their Wraith-forms Jake, Despair and Zero are much more dangerous than their symbiote enhanced host forms. The Wraith is inherently stronger and more resilient and adapted to the harsh environment it calls its own. The Wraith are psionic alpha predators but ultimately it is in this environment they are weakest - their greatest strength is also their greatest weakness, the link to their hosts.

Fallen Liberties, former Villain now a Redeemed Hero...

An attempt, a failed one, at reproducing Statesman power resulted in my birth into power. I can only hope to live up to that reputation. I am the Fallen Liberties... the lost, the forgotten brother, and sad reminder. The black sheep of the family... I am what he fears most, the lost reminder of his past Sins. It was D-Day... World War II and I was a fighting member of the Freedom Phalanx, Statesman's charge and sidekick, I went to war alongside him. When a Panzer Mk X blew up atop me, I blacked out. He had left me. I struggled there for two days, waiting for him to come back and free me... after the seventh day I knew... I had been abandoned... He Will Pay... They will all Pay... Now I am a Light in the Darkness to Guide the Fallen from the Isles back into the Light. But While I may be a hero once more, I will never forgive, nor forget, Kid Liberty is no more, Fallen Liberties are all that remain...