Re-Imagining : Darkstalkers Our World Is One of Many. in the Mortal Realm

Re-Imagining : Darkstalkers

Our world is one of many. In the mortal realm all beings that live possess an individual soul but in the demon realm of Makai those creatures born of that primal Devil World share the same soul, divided by flesh but united in spirit. Makai is it’s people and they are Makai as much as the continents Matairku, Daimayou and Daimakai and uncrossable seas of that distant dimension. But just because something is joined beneath the surface does not mean there cannot be sedition. Nine noble houses rose to prominence in Makai: House Aensland, Hose Dohma, House Basinal, House Lepe, House Hartland, House Kreutz, House Drey, House Gilman and Hosue Funechika. The Demon Wars have been raging since any now alive can recall. Belial Aensland usually called Dark Lord was one of many bickering rulers such as Ozom The Deceiver, Kreutz the Beas, and Jedah The Hand in the power plays of Makai although he subscribed to the nearly forgotten belief in his time that Makai and it’s demons were connected and interdependent so no one demon could ever rule the Devil World completely. Unlike the many other beings vying for control Belial fought to defuse the feuds of generations rather than gain power himself. Such was the reason he fought to a stand still another demon would-be king of house Lepe and following his belief in preserving the unity of Makai he exiled his foe to another dimension instead of destroying him. To a parallel world where the demon’s powers would be great, but not so great as on his native soil. Our world.

The defeated demon took refuge from the crippling rays of the mortal sun in a ruined estate and using his knack for controlling minds eventually he gathered a following of the human natives of a land he eventually learned was called Romania. He was mistaken for the long dead royalty of a cursed bloodline, the dreaded Maximoffs who were said to be blood drinking monsters in their day. To keep up appearances and establish further influence he accepted his new role and cast aside his demon name for another more appropriate to his new status and command . Count Demitri Maximoff: vampire monarch.

In his exile Demitri traveled with the help of his entourage to the four corners of the mortal realm looking for all forms of information on the demon realm as the humans knew it. There had been many crossovers throughout history of exiled, lost, searching or simply curious demons who had been recorded in history as legends and myths. Whether the demons themselves or their estranged hunters the term was the same in almost every instance of these travelers between worlds. Walkers in the shadows. Darkstalkers. And with the discovery of these beings did Demitri begin to plot his ultimate revenge. Part of the plan was to defeat Demitri’s new hated enemy: the shimmering day sphere which he could simply not plan a way of avoiding forever and his numerous painful experiments had proven could indeed spell an eternal end to even his godlike might. So in the course of his expeditions he always held in the back of his mind the bane of his one true weakness. In the feverish jungles of Africa he finally discovered it: an artifact of ancient human invention called The Shadow Sphere. Originally it had been designed as a threat to cover the enemies of an ancient empire in darkness. Now he would now use it to cast the entire planet into eternal night.

Ironically enough Demitri discovered his old rival Belial had been right about one thing. Every demon WAS connected. Through the power of his own blood he could channel the energy of Makai itself into The Shadow Sphere, giving him the power to accomplish everything he sought. By happy accident for Demitri’s plans the draining of Makai began to weaken it’s demons, including Belial, and in his weakened state one of many assassination attempts finally succeeded. With his rival dead at last and the sun vanquished nothing could stand in the way of the vampire king taking charge of the Earth. And the moon turned to blood even as the sun was snuffed out of the sky.

The Darkstalkers that couldn’t be cajoled by the possibility of a world finally controlled by them and not the humans that had long hunted, imprisoned, and exploited them would have to be brought under his sway in some other manner. To that end he devised The Tournament. As the energies were drained from Makai other travelers from the demon realm came to the mortal realm in order to survive. In the mortal realm they were free of the power of The Shadow Sphere, as well as outside of Demetri’s grip. Living in the margins these exiles had to stay one step ahead of territorial Darkstalkers and dedicated hunters of their kind so when Demitri offered them an opportunity to fight for the right to regain enough stolen power to return home; possibly to get a leg up on their long time rivals. Few realized that in dueling with others of their kind they were imparting their expended energy back to Demitri, perpetuating his eternal night.

And even as the world descended into anarchy and chaos in the gathering gloom and monsters stepped out of mythology to stalk the streets the survivors of humanity and Demitri believed at last he held complete domination of the mortal realm, soon to expand his influence back to Makai to exact his ultimate revenge … another player entered the game. A being from beyond the stars arrived, sensing the weakness of a dying world. A monster older than even the elder demons who had once sent his servants to Earth to commandeer it’s forming human population and prepare the way for his arrival and conquest. A tyrant called Pyron. Other notable Darkstalkers join the fray …

Morrigan: Often Morrigan is known as the daughter of Belial but this is only partially true. Unknown even to herself Morrigan was summoned into existence in Scotland from a plain of existence that was still unknown, even to the most determined scholars of Makai. She’s known as a succubus: a previously considered mythical creature who can draw power from the emotions of others. The cult that brought her into the mortal realm had intended Morrigan to gain power but when Belial arrived feeling the power spike of her creation they turned her over to the demon king as an offering to make him leave them in peace. Back in the demon realm Belial was fascinated by the concept of a Darkstalker without ties to Makai and this coupled with the inability for Makai creatures to create new demons (except their own strange spontaneous creation from the depths of a sacred cave) convinced him to adopt Morrigan as his daughter and heir. While grooming her for the position he learned that her innate power was so great that it threatened to literally destroy her if she came of age so Belial drained off much of the energies from her soul: splitting the succubus into three separate wells of power. One was sealed inside Morrigan herself. The third, in addition to the soul Morrigan was aware of, became self aware. But that’s another story. As for Morrigan, she was kept from this secret as much as the others. But when her father wasted away in the aftermath of Demetri’s eternal night and draining of Makai, Morrigan was swiftly taken from the demon world by her house’s courtiers to avoid her assassination. With only a third of her soul she was still a force to be reckoned with but desperate demons might seek out her energies to continue their survival and conquer their rivals. Of course since the playful demoness had been constantly sneaking off to the mortal realm to mess around with humans to feed off their emotions even before her exile this didn’t come as great concern. But there was some measure of expectation for responsibility put onto Morrigan given she is the last survivor of really the final demon house to want a united Makai, and given that the current winner of the demon wars Demitri is responsible for killing her father she felt she owed the arrogant vampire a good clobbering for the sake of family honor. The Tournament promised power, glory, and entertainment aplenty with possibly a chance to challenge Demitri at last to a decisive combat, but the succubus was swiftly distracted with the arrival of Pyron who possessed power that even the eldest or most skillful Darkstalker could not match. Power she desired because of her shattered soul leaving gaps in her strength. Power she was determined to claim.

Jon Talbain: Kreutz was one of the premiers of the nine noble families, although it would be more accurate to call his ‘house’ retainers of the royal line: elite soldiers in the armies of Makai. The members of the house came in all shapes and one of the most powerful was the demon Baraba ‘The Wolf Lord’ who found one of the forgotten portals between Makai in the mortal realm twenty years prior to the coup of Maximoff. Finding himself in rural England he began to enjoy the sights and sounds of a land apparently where war was not a daily occurrence, even discovering a mortal female, Luciana Talbain, and with her sired a half-demon child who in most respects seemed entirely human in appearance. Afterwards Baraba returned to Makai as was the fickle nature of demons. Luciana named her offspring Jon and for a time the two of them lived in peace. Then, on his sixteenth birthday a full moon sent Jon Talbain into fits and in the aftermath his body warped into a hybrid of a gigantic wolf and a man. He hurt no one as he fled deep into the woods but the villagers, fueled by the prevailing myths of werewolves, declared they would destroy him if they ever saw him again. Luciana and Jon met on several occasions afterwards but for the most part Jon lived in the wilds. Because of his mother’s support and teachings he did not grow to hate his human cousins and in fact pitied their fear. As a beast he had none but reconciling his demonic nature with his mortal soul brought both sides of him into a single whole. Then he discovered the discipline of his warrior ancestors, inspired by the mortal codes of the Samurai, the Knight, the soldier. By the time he was twenty Jon could transform at will, from human to wolf. When Luciana disappeared one day, Jon decided to seek out his father in Makai but had no way to breech the veil between dimensions, especially when the power of The Shadow Sphere further drained Makai and the remaining demons barricaded it as best they could against intrusion. When Demitri called The Tournament with the chance at power enough to confront his father Jon agreed. He little suspected that the mysterious stranger who on occasion would save his life or fight him (secretly training his instincts and strength) in the lead up to the tournament was Baraba in disguise, severing as a guardian angel despite the fact that if his son accomplishes his goal Jon might just end up fighting him to the death in the time honored fashion of House Kreutz’s succession.

Victor Von Gerdenheim: The story of Victor Gerdenheim is one of tragedy and genius. A winner of many awards in his youth he seemed to have a bright future in the scientific community. It was later in life when he began to experiment on the possibilities of the existence of a human soul that his one time supporters turned their back on him in droves. His mingling of magic and science made many fear for his sanity and he was suspected of everything from drug abuse to elaborate frauds with his more and more outlandish experiments to bring the dead back to life. Eventually he moved away from the public all together, retiring to and building a laboratory in his ancestral mansion. His first grand creation in the new setting he called Emily: an artificial being in the form of a child he attempted to charge with life-giving energy. The problem was that Emily’s slight frame could only hold the charge so long, and even then it was a semblance of the life Victor wished the bring back into existence. Eventually he fabricated a new being using pieces of corpses: a massive stitched together monstrosity which sacrificed his health, much of his reason and all of his remaining ties to complete. In the last throes of an illness brought about by overwork Victor decided that only by fusing his soul’s energies to his new creation could it be given true life and after the transfer was complete he died, but in his final moments witnessed his hulking creation sitting upright on its slab. The unnamed being whose implanted soul was now essentially powered by his internal generator had no understanding of life or death. Witnessing it’s fallen creator the creature assumed that the inactivity of Victor must mean disapproval. To know acceptance he would have to leave the castle and become stronger; a fitter creation worthy of it. He managed to recharge Emily for a short time to have some company in the lonely estate. He even discovered as long as she remained with him and drew energy from his body she could stay activated, perhaps even begin to semblance of an independent personality. Emily knew only one name and when the monster searched the grounds he found the deeds to the home and other papers which had the same name on it. Not knowing himself he borrowed the name until a better one came along, and he liked being known by something. He called himself Victor, sometimes fully Victor Von Geldenheim. It made him feel more human. Victor is one of the few Darkstalkers with no notable ties to Makai. Interestingly part of the dark rituals invoked by his maker to bring him to life had their origins in the demon world so he can use demonic energies to strengthen his already considerable powers but he holds no fealty to the nine houses and has little interest in the demon world even when he learned of it’s existence from encounters with other Darkstalkers. What he DID become deeply interested in was Demetri’s Tournament. Here at last he might be able to prove himself and perhaps the original Victor might waken if he returned in triumph. Even if not perhaps the strength he gained would allow him to defend little Emily better, and that mission was rapidly becoming more important to him than anything else.

Lord Raptor: The demon premier Ozom is much more interested in the mortal realm than many of his kind. The other nine rulers were content mostly to concentrate their efforts on Makai itself, but Ozom The Deceiver saw the benefit in siphoning power from the mortal realm through the manipulation of humans. One such devotee of his, unknowingly, was music legend Zabel Zarock or more popularly ‘Lord Raptor’. He was the inventor and leading practitioner of what he referred to as ‘Cult Metal’ in which the stylings and lyrics of his songs were based on ancient rituals. Many argued his legions of fans were closer to a cult themselves, scarring and tattooing his likeness of their persons, religiously attending his concerts, and even flying into violent rages if denied access to his music. Hit album after hit album made many suspect as a joke that Zabel must have made a deal with The Devil. They weren’t that far off. While looking for new material Zabel had stumbled across a real ritual to contact Ozom. With the promise of immortality he was willing to undertake any dark design of his master, even when he was commanded to perform a final concert of momentous significance. During the production of his most ambitious single yet Sacrifice something happened. No living witnesses can report the specifics. All that’s known is that in the end Zabel was dead along with hundreds of his fans, all from self-inflicted injuries. Days later Ozom made good on his promise…somewhat. Zabel returned but as a twisted zombie who could only sustain his unnatural existence by devouring souls. Lord Raptor seemed pleased enough with his new state even if it meant he could never return to humanity but he did demand to keep enough of his autonomy to allow him to continue to play the music he loved. When Ozom learned of Demitri’s plot to cloak the world in darkness he didn’t care much for the plight of humanity, but the possibility that a demon ruler would gain energy and shift the balance of power did disturb him. To disrupt Maximoff’s rise, Lord Raptor was sent as a participant to the Tournament and told to destroy or disrupt as many Darkstalkers as he could. Ostensibly this was for Raptor’s benefit although of course the ultimate victor would be Ozom. To keep an eye on his zombie servant (literally) Ozom employed his cyclopean servant Le Malta to be Lord Raptor’s constant companion, guardian, and backup drummer. Raptor realized the fact of his monitoring and being used very quickly. He’s more than willing to defeat and devour many Darksiders for fun. But he’s not doing this for his master. He’s doing this for himself. Like he’s always done things.

Rikuo and Sasquatch: Not all Darkstalkers are demons. Some are creatures living in the periphery of the mortal realm that humans refuse to believe in. Two such beings are Rikuo the king of the merfolk and Sasquatch who is literally a bigfoot. Both of these creatures were content enough to live their lives in seclusion and anonymity, both serving as the pillars of their community as well as guardians and husbands. But both of them were displaced not but humans but instead by the arrival of something they could not have anticipated or planed for. Pyron. For the family of Rikuo the intervention of the beast from beyond the stars led to the devastation of his Sargasso Sea kingdom, leaving only a handful of merfolk alive to flee to ravages of his mechanized lieutenants. As for Sasquatch his people were frightened away by the landfall of Pyron’s entourage so that only Sasquatch remained, searching in vain for his scattered people. Both were driven from their homelands but discovered that their trials had only begun as the Shadow Sphere blotted out the sun. In the case of Rikuo not being near water would slowly begin to diminish his strength and Sasquatch became enraged without the presence of the sun so both one-time rulers were prepared to abandon their search and return to lives of desperation…if they hadn’t discovered each other and forged a bond of brotherhood. Now both ancient creatures, although incapable of understand each other entirely, still are traveling companions and determined to bring their grievances home to Pyron, even if they have to enter a tournament of Darkstalkers to do it. Anakaris: Egypt, specifically the little known Middle Kingdom between the Upper and Lower empires, is assumed to have had only eleven pharaohs. But there were twelve, the twelfth named Anakaris. His history has been expunged and his statues and monuments thrown down, but the few who knew are aware that in his childhood his father and mother died of a plague and filled a young Anakraris with a terror of death. He spared no effort or expense throughout his life to discover a way not only to live as the eternal in the afterlife but as an eternal god on Earth. To that end mass excavations were financed to investigate forbidden ruins looking for artifacts and formulas that would allow him to cheat death. At last, nearing the end of his life, he found one. A scarab necklace had been forged from a material supposedly retrieved from the underworld. After commissioning an enormous sarcophagus to contain him Anakaris placed the necklace around his throat and commissioned himself to be buried alive. Unwilling to challenge a living deity his people did as they were asked. For seven years the new leader came to power by conquering the country and ruled in the stead of Anakaris, now known more popularity as The Mad Pharaoh, declaring himself the new Pharaoh. He wasn’t prepared for the tomb of his predecessor to smash open revealing a towering creature of stone and rotted flesh who promptly devastated his grand armies and eventually smashed him to a pulp in turn. Anakaris had returned and although no longer human he was all the more powerful and godlike than before. Until the arrival of Huitzil. The alien warlord Pylon preferred to seed planets he intended to later conquer with his servants in order to ready the population for takeover. One of his most powerful servants was the mechanical warrior Huitzil and the intention was for this living device to capture the hearts and minds of the primitive people. Despite Huitzil’s might it was not expecting resistance in the form of a gigantic mummy, but it was not unprepared. After a terrible fight Huitzil was unable to destroy Anakaris so instead the mechanical servant hurled the twelfth pharaoh into a deep pit and buried him under a mountain of rubble. Decades later Anakaris would rise again, just in time for the return of their foe Pyron and his minion Huitzi. But there can only be one god on Earth.

Felicia: She’s one of many young ‘houseless’ Makai residents who somehow at a young age stumbled out of her world into the mortal realm. She was adopted by a orphanage and brought up under the tutelage of Sister Mary Rose, although Felicia’s flightiness and desire for fame kept drawing her away from a path of peaceful meditation on religion. Felicia, although possessing no loyalty to any of the nine houses, still had plenty of demonic influence in her despite a relatively human-like appearance…with the possible exception of her prominent animal features such as feline ears and claws on her hands and feet. To disguise these features the sisters of the convent used to conceal her under the robes of their order but when she came of age Felicia discovered that in regular society her strange appearance could fit in as long as she pretended it was a costume. After designing a costume to accomplish this she also discovered she had a talent for singing and dancing and that she loved the attention both provided her on the stage but that by becoming a freelance entertainer she swiftly learned there were other’s like her with the same interests. Not only were these similar energetic young women with a love of entertaining, but a surprising amount of them were also cat- demons with a variety of histories before the lure of the lights and applause drew them together. Alto, Grace, Lucy, Nana and Mimi, Nonno, and Piko became part of the Strays act which became surprisingly popular partially due to the talent of the performers but also due to the inherent magical seductiveness of their kind. When Sister Rose passed away peacefully the finances of the orphanage Felicia had called home fell under jeopardy, and things were only exacerbated when the sun went on and never rose again. Hearing about The Tournament Felicia decided this might be an opportunity to gain the power (and hopefully money) to set her friends, the kids, and her strange family for life at last and although she was quick to suggest herself as the primary fighter because of her physical aptitude her companions declared they would support her as they could. Only thing was Felicia, although not adverse to fighting, was strictly against killing… something other darkstalkers were much MUCH looser in their morals about.

Bishamon: Not every exile from Makai were high ranking demons or even entirely sentient demons or whatever rank. In the case of Hannya there was a nearly mindless creature stalking and slaying at will and seemingly uncontrollable so an early ruler of Makai fused the beast into a crucible of molten metal and banished it to the mortal realm. Bishamon himself was a noble samurai during peacetime who nonetheless was deeply interested in the history of his profession and preserving the principals of Bushido. To this end he purchased a peculiar suit of armor and a sword from a merchant to examine it at his leisure. However as soon as he donned it for size he felt strange…and days later awakened in a field with blood splattered across his armor and no memory of what had occurred. Eventually the news reached him that some of the finest swordsmen had been slaughtered in duels with a mysterious samurai in red armor and that in some cases monsters had also been hunted and killed by his relentless blade and dark magical powers. Unwilling to risk the life of his wife Orin, Bishamon went on a lengthy journey to an ancient archive in order to learn the truth of this curse. After much research he discovered that the armor, the remains of Hannya, had apparently been forged in Hell (Makai) and that the sword ironically was also cursed but of a different lineage. Kien, the Blood Thirsty Sword had been forged as weapon for a brutal monarch of old which only became sharper the more it was drenched in human viscera and was rumored to drive the weirder insane if it did not take a life once per day. Luckily his spirit had conditioned the weapon and armor to seek out beasts of the darkness and challenge the strongest fighters so innocent lives might be spared for a time, but for how long he did not know. The influence of the weapon and armor was beginning to take hold of him and sometimes he would awaken without knowledge of his actions to find both coated in gore. The unintended side effect of his curse was his immortality and although he was loathe to remain on his path of death and darkness he saw no alternative other than placing his burden upon someone else. Now, decades later, haunted by visions of his wife and desiring nothing but to seal away the armor and sword forever back in Hell, Bishamon accepts the Tournament’s promise as well as the opportunity to slay yet more beasts like himself whose unnatural presence can only harm the innocent. But he is aware he’s as monstrous as the most degraded of them all and in the end he cannot allow himself to be defeated. The armor and sword is powerful enough in the possession of a poor, tormented and emaciated shell of a man. Imagine it’s destructive power in the possession of a demon.