Wicked One - Malphesto the Zealot

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by Shadow9808

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Wicked Ones/Helluva Boss

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Ah, now this is a long time coming, isn't it? Drawn by my dear friend AND game master, @MuniversalArts I present to you Malphesto's first notable form.

In Wicked Ones, the player characters are powerful monsters who set out with a goal to build a dungeon to achieve said goal, and through deals, back stabbing and occasionally fending off invasions of heroes, grow in power; the leaders of a dungeon can and will die, but so long as the dungeon itself never falls, new Wicked Ones can move in and take over.

Unless the race you're playing is a Demon.

Demons like Malphesto have a very special rule as a species; they can die, yes, but ultimately this is just a set back a hero can cause. Why? Because Demons in this game cannot be killed off for good, unlike the other player races. Killing them only boots them back to Hell for a while, where they can stew and plot revenge on the heroes that killed them. Sure, the dungeon they spent a long time to build and control can fall, but nothing stops them from coming back and starting another dungeon. Now, Malphesto having a puppet as his vessel is important to the split of my canon for the character. In both, rather than usually go to the mortal realms above personally, thus putting his well being at risk, he finds it easier to take control of a puppet, any kind will do, and turn it into something akin to a remote controlled machine he can pilot. He still feels everything that happens to his 'host', but he doesn't physically show the same damage in Hell. Chop its arm off? He feels it, but doesn't lose his real arm.

In the Wicked Ones universe, Malphesto was summoned by a dungeon that was raided and destroyed during a ritual intended to summon a powerful demon of Wrath to destroy the world, effectively the final goal of the dungeon's leader. However, the ritual wasn't just thrown off by heroes reaching the inner lair, but also because the ritual's leader was killed during the summoning. Thus, as Malphesto was summoned, he was not bound to the carefully made shell of flesh intended to destroy the world... And instead was shoved into a puppet used as a part of the ritual to goad said Wrath Demon into feeling mocked, thus invoking its anger. Malphesto had just recently betrayed his own Master, killing him and claiming his power as his own, and upon being bound to the puppet, learned something he loathed; he now had power over all of the Circle of Lust (Important definition from the RING of Lust), but it was fleeting. He needed a more permanent means to keep his new power, because once it burned out, he'd be a slave once more. Thus, he became a Zealot, but instead of calling on the Dark Gods for aid, he decided to start a cult in his own name... Aspiring to BECOME a new Dark God, which would ascend him from a Demon and ensure his power was absolute. His domains? Corruption and Domination, two the Dark Gods of canon lore did not have as their domains.

In my Helluva verse, Malphesto IS the real ruler of the Ring of Lust, because he discovered how to manipulate and control the very real Red Strings of Fate. He can manipulate mortals to act on the Sin of Lust, but as per Lucifer's decree as King, Sins can only be provoked; it's up to a mortal to decide if they keep doing it over and over again. Malphesto prefers that Ozzy be viewed as the Deadly Sin in charge, but only because he plays a larger, more elaborate game in the shadows. Besides, Ozzy is frankly just that awesome and has the right kind of business savvy Malphesto is willing to admit he lacks. That said, he adores Queen Bee and tries to make it to her parties when he can, as well as happily 'married' to Roxie, who's willing to go above and beyond on his behalf. He does crave some of Heaven's 'fruits' as his slaves, but again, he's willing to play the long game to get what he desires. After all, there are so many Sinners in Hell, ripe for joining his 'collection' of dolls... And he knows very well even Overlords are still Sinners; they just found out how to gather the souls of others under their thumb. Control an Overlord, you control every contract they hold...

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