WWYCD: A Devil No More?

[Marcus Impudite]

For some time, you and your team had to contend with a demon you knew by the name of Russel. You and the others had tangled with him on and off over the course of a year, always thwarting his evil schemes but never quite suceeding in capturing/destroying him--Ol' Russ was usually smart enough to know when to cut and run. Unfortunately for Russel, he eventually got into fight with a demon far more powerful (not to mention far more evil) than himself and was destroyed, though before he went down he managed to weaken the other demon enough that you and your team finished it off in short order.

 

Or at least, you thought he had been destroyed. About a week later, you are startled to find what appears to be Russel sprawled unconscious on the doorstep of the team's base (or if you don't have a team base, some other appropriate location). A team member with the requisite sensory abilities is able to confirm that it's him, but something is different. Although he still has the same personality, memories, and knowledge, his powers are gone and he no longer even reads as a demon. It's like his demonic nature had somehow been stripped away, and indeed, he now registers as fully human. WWYCD?

[Chuckg]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Starguard -- is ecstatically happy at yet again having it proved that a) there is a God and He believes in the possibility of redemption even for the most evil.

 

(BTW, if there is any deception going on here, it would be exceedingly unlikely for her not to know -- in her case, 'requisite sensory abilities' means 'the cosmic/mystic awareness package of a for-real, no-BS archangel'.)

 

Dr. Pain -- does what he always does when confronted by the various vagaries and oddities of the Mystic World... roll his eyes, rub his aching head, and go get a beer. "Dammit, magic crap *again*? I put bad guys in German suplexes, this suddenly makes me Harry Potter or something? When is this team going to recruit a mage so I don't have to keep answering the door for this #!@%!@%!@?!?"

 

Baron von Darien -- calls a meeting of the Trismegistus and has the situation very carefully investigated, complete with mind probing of the dude to determine whether or not the human part of the personality actually does bear any responsibility for the demon's actions or not. If 'yes', then execute him. If 'no', resettle him somewhere in the normal world and keep him monitored discreetly for further developments.

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

ALL characters: Same as if any other opponent invoked Venerable Comic Book Cliche #16. Support their reform/redemtion to the best of their abilities.

[Blue]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Audra Blue would have the team cart him off to the authorities. If he's committed crimes, whether he's a demon NOW or not, he's still got the law to contend with. And she'll NEVER let him in her base.

 

Anthem would have no way of knowing anything about their "nature" by analysis/mystical means. She'd find them injured, make sure they were alive, and it would be up to the former-demon to convince her they were different now.

 

Uncle Slam would throw him in The Keep while testing is performed. He too feels that the individual is not absolved of past crimes. But he would do his best to make sure they were on the right path to redemption.

[Zed-F]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Soulbarb is stunned, considering the implications for herself. She's definitely capable of telling whether he's really human or not; all it will take is a peek at his soul (if he has one.) She'll want to question Russel thoroughly to find out exactly what happened to him, how he became human, and whether he had originally been human in the first place. Then she'll do as much investigation and research into the possibility as she can, to find out what it takes and what the limitations are, as well as who might have done it (and what else they might be doing or capable of doing.) Meanwhile, she has a serious dilemna to resolve about whether she wants to go through with the process herself, on the one hand risking her powers, and on the other a chance to throw off Camuranima's claim over her soul...

 

If Russel is cooperative in helping her figure this out, she'd be inclined not to turn him over to the cops right away. On the other hand, she's not going to try and get his name cleared, either. Besides, he probably still has other enemies out there who would love to get their hands on him in this condition. He's probably safest in police custody, and she'll work on that angle to see if she can get him to agree.

 

Cerulean would also be qualified to see if he's really human, though he'll have to do it the old-fashioned way by various magical tests, and Dr. Quantum and Blitz would certainly pitch in on the scientific/medical side. Cerulean would probably be curious about the process of how he ceased to be a demon as well, but from a more academic standpoint. As far as giving him a chance at redemption goes -- heck, we already have one of those (Icicle) going, why not a second?

[SatinKitty]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

MINDFLAIR would be able to find out for sure if he was for real. If so, she would take him on as a patient, insist that he pay his debt to society for his earlier crimes, and help launch him into ordinary life afterward. This is her job, after all. If not, she'd go to work on his mind to make it for real. then proceed as above.

[Guest daeudi_454]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Firedrake: I seriously doubt the big lizard would wait long enough to find out if he had reformed. And even if he did, would consider it a trick. they always get their powers back. Kill it.

Ion: Positive: Good for him, but of course we are going to debrief him. Negative: Debrief him, forcefully, and with whatever sensory needed to divine the truth. Then find out if he has any further use.

Quantum Cat: Demon, huh? Not anymore? If QC can posess him, it means he really is mortal, and if he has no powers then he is a problem for the authorites.

The PC: Figure out what the plot element is, what are we being led into.... Then find a magic user to figure out if Russel has a mortal soul. If he does, hand him over to the Feds

No soul? Then incinerate the bastard..

[Black Rose]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Penumbra would be (quietly) happy, and try to show whatever emotion he thought Russel was looking for; congratulations on his freedom, understanding of his pain or commiseration over his loss. If he had the opportunity, he'd try to get as much info about the infernals "from the horse's mouth", since that's an area he keeps getting tripped up by. If Russel needed help getting restarted or whatever, he'd be happy to try, but frankly Pen'd be surprised he didn't have more than a few rolls he could step into and live pretty poshly.

 

Note: More than once, Pen's had his nose rubbed into the fact that trying to get "justice" on your antagonists for their past actions is rather like paper-training a puppy - unless you do it right at the moment of action, they only seem to get angry and make messes elsewhere deliberately.

[Badger]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Badger- has the ability to sense demonic energy. So it would be likely he would know what is up in this case. As far as what to do with him...not so sure. He doesnt like leaving enemies around at all in any form. But the others might be a bit more benevolent in their decision. There is a possibility that it was a human that had been possessed. If that was the case, he probably would leave him be.

 

frosty Bob- pull out his gun and eliminate with extreme prejudice.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

First of all, Dr. Anomaly would be quite suspicious, given the past history. Even though he is himself a mage as well as a gadgeteer, the magic end of things is something he has a lot less experience with and he'd definitely want a second opinion.

 

If the second opinion confirms Dr. Anomaly's own assessment -- this guy is now just 'a guy', and no longer a demon -- he'd turn him over to the authorities. After all, just becuase Russel doesn't have his powers any more doesn't automatically absolve him of the crimes he committed and actions he took while using those powers. If a gunman destroys the gun he used to kill someone, he's not scott-free simply because he is no longer in possession of the tool/power/weapon he used to kill the victim.

[radioKAOS]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Archangel: Being an avatar of the Archangel Gabriel, would certainly be 'in the know' as to what's happened to Russel. He would welcome the redeemed being into the base, explaining to the others that his demons have been eradicated and that the Lord has decided to allow Russel a chance to prove his worth.

[CBikle]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

See, this is why Jor El invented the "Phantom Zone".

 

Has Russell comitted his past crimes on U.S. soil ?

[Guest HeroPink!]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

For some time, you and your team had to contend with a demon you knew by the name of Russel. You and the others had tangled with him on and off over the course of a year, always thwarting his evil schemes but never quite suceeding in capturing/destroying him--Ol' Russ was usually smart enough to know when to cut and run. Unfortunately for Russel, he eventually got into fight with a demon far more powerful (not to mention far more evil) than himself and was destroyed, though before he went down he managed to weaken the other demon enough that you and your team finished it off in short order.

 

Or at least, you thought he had been destroyed. About a week later, you are startled to find what appears to be Russel sprawled unconscious on the doorstep of the team's base (or if you don't have a team base, some other appropriate location). A team member with the requisite sensory abilities is able to confirm that it's him, but something is different. Although he still has the same personality, memories, and knowledge, his powers are gone and he no longer even reads as a demon. It's like his demonic nature had somehow been stripped away, and indeed, he now registers as fully human. WWYCD?

Would never happen to any of my characters. One big reason I stick with the GMs I do is none of them treat the xian mythos as real. I get enough of that BS in day-to-day; I won't have it in my gaming. Same opinion held by the whole group. Any my GMs pulled "demons" out of her ***, I belt her. Or check if she'd been replaced by a doppelganger.

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Would never happen to any of my characters. One big reason I stick with the GMs I do is none of them treat the xian mythos as real. I get enough of that BS in day-to-day; I won't have it in my gaming. Same opinion held by the whole group. Any my GMs pulled "demons" out of her ***' date=' I belt her. Or check if she'd been replaced by a doppelganger. [/quote']

 

?

 

Okay, demons are Xian associated, but they can tie into more than that. The word is really more of generic term for an inherently evil being (or one viewed as such) these days... it's a mainstay of fiction.

 

Angels are a clear sign of Christian belief. Demons? They've lost the mental tag.

[Guest daeudi_454]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

?

 

Okay, demons are Xian associated, but they can tie into more than that. The word is really more of generic term for an inherently evil being (or one viewed as such) these days... it's a mainstay of fiction.

 

Angels are a clear sign of Christian belief. Demons? They've lost the mental tag.

Xian? in the Shaanxi province? Where all the clay soldiers were? What's that got to do with demons?

Or is there an Anime named that?

Or is that another form of writing Christian? If so, is it laziness, or spite?

 

Anyways.... angels and demons are cross-cultural.... just a matter of the language.

Malevolent and benevolent supernatural entities in service to higher entities have been in practically every culture's mythology that ever was.

Intersting, only the Chinese really had a whole framework in place (in their mythos) for a demon to reform.

[Brandi]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Xian? in the Shaanxi province? Where all the clay soldiers were? What's that got to do with demons?

Or is there an Anime named that?

Or is that another form of writing Christian? If so, is it laziness, or spite?

 

The X is actually supposed to be the capital letter Chi (I don't know if the HTML & entity Χ will look different); it comes from the Roman emperor Constantine's use of a Chi over a rho or ρ to show his Christian affiliation (it's the first two letters of Christos in Greek).

 

The use of Xian (and Xmas for Christmas) is actually pretty old and not necessarily derogatory though way too many 3DGY anti-theists use it that way (Xmas became so popular with advertisers for space-saving headlines that it's now seen as a bit frivolous to use).

 

To bring this back to the original topic: lots of religions and mythoi (yes, that's the actual plural!), not just the Judeo-Christian one, speak of otherworldly entities that are inimical to humanity. Russell could as easily be a Unseelie fae, an ifrit, or a particularly nasty oni.

[The Watcher]

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More?

 

Warp: "Ok, so you're not a demon now. Doesn't change the fact that you caused a lot of trouble and endangered a lot of people."

 

*Spatial Distortion Trap*

 

"This we'll keep you from leaving while the team figures out what to do with you."

 

Monkey Wrench: "I'm a scientist! I don't do magic! Scathach, can you come over here and figure out what the hell is going on with Russel? And I mean that litteraly!"