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[thetatters]

Player: Rona
Contact: ronabird @ discord
Age: 29
Other Characters: N/A

Name: John Doe (formerly Hastur, Lord of Carcosa, The King in Yellow)
Canon: Malevolent
Canon Point: Early Season 3, just before his arrival in Part 23.
Age: Physically 30s, actually eons old, has like four months of human life experience (and 90% of that was spent in a hospital bed or prison pit).

Backstory: a series of bad decisions
Personality:

The podcast Malevolent is, approximately, a Call of Cthulhu campaign run as a choose-your-own-adventure via Patreon. It stars Arthur Lester, a private investigator in 1934. At the start of the show, Arthur interacts with a cursed object and becomes possessed by an entity now bound to his soul.

Initially, that entity is monstrous. It turns on a dime from smooth, coaxing manipulation to snarling fury; it sneers at Arthur for being afraid and inadequate; it pressures him into increasingly deadly situations. The Entity can't remember who or what it is, but it knows that humans are tools for it to use and break at its whim. It has already murdered several people for its convenience or pleasure.

But as Arthur chooses to be consistently curious, kind, and self-sacrificing, this has an impact on the Entity entangled with his soul. The Entity marvels at the lively human world, so different from the hellish Dark World it knows. Arthur teaches it about music and poetry and friendship. The Entity, for the first time, encounters the concept of non-transactional affection and care. When Arthur spends a month in a coma, the nurses call him "John Doe," and the Entity looking through his eyes becomes fond of the name. It becomes fond of humanity and the concept of life having intrinsic value.

John Doe decides to be a person. And when other fragments of himself try to stamp that out, he doubles down.

As a person, John is frankly a dick. He's insecure, quick to anger, and vicious when he lashes out. He loves the concept of redemption, but he has very little patience for other people's emotions or flaws. At this canonpoint, he has recently been yanked from Arthur's head and shoved back into the Dark World, where he fell back upon his old ways as a cruel and isolated king. It's the shame of this that drove him to beg for a way out, but upon returning to the human world, cruelty remains a reflex: he wants to manipulate and murder his way out of most problems.

And as the former god-king of realms unknowable, John remains prideful and presumptuous. He would suffer and die for Arthur Lester, but he's also intensely possessive. No human but Arthur can typically hear his voice, so when Arthur finds other companions to spend time with, John lashes out in a jealous rage. Feeling isolated or helpless quickly drives him back to petty, reflexive violence.

Still, he's capable of remarkable gentleness and empathy. He is still delighted by human art and poetry, eager to discuss philosophy and the concept of redemption. Despite knowing a life of near-constant violence, he encourages Arthur to be merciful and kind. John is the one to suggest they stop to help wounded cultists or free a mistreated animal, and he consistently urges Arthur to never give up. He is enchanted by the very human concept of hope.

In a jamjar, John will be overwhelmed by sudden agency: he's accustomed to being a bodiless voice in Arthur's head, and becoming embodied will feel like losing his anchor. He will struggle with his violent temper, especially without a human lodestone to guide his behavior. Expect him to imprint on a new morality pet or three, and expect him to do dramatic, unhinged, absolutely idiotic things to get Arthur back.

After all, his partnership with Arthur has always grounded his identity as John Doe, a person. He doesn't know how long he can maintain one without the other.

Powers/Abilities:

1. John himself is not a flesh-and-blood creature, but a parasitic consciousness attached to a host body. Even when the body is intoxicated, asleep, or unconscious, John remains aware and unaffected.

2. John can perceive auras of light or darkness when otherworldly forces are inhabiting a person, place, or thing. Within the game, he'll only pick up these vibes if the influence is extremely powerful.

3. When John makes skin-to-skin contact with a corpse, he witnesses a brief vision of that person's death. He cannot control or suppress this power.

4. John can manifest a floating, tentacle-y eldritch physical form. This takes a heavy toll on his human host.

5. While manifested, John can seize mental control of a creature witnessing him. We've seen an alternate version of John force a victim to immediate violent suicide.

Inventory: nothing but the clothes on Arthur's back

Game Plans: His sigil is a canon-significant sign stamped across his left eye. (The King in Yellow canonically exists across the multiverse, so characters with exposure to Lovecraftian mythos can recognize the rancid vibes.) John will hate this! He'll keep his face hidden, sulk around pining for his situationship, and ineffectively try to pass as human. Found family is going to hit him like a truck.

Monster Choice:

1. Kraken. John's canon appearance involves a mass of tentacle-like wisps that float as though underwater, so tentacles would be par for the course. Bioluminescence, hypnotic voice, inhuman strength, immunity to severe temperatures, and a mask of pale shell.

2. Demon. This is a solid approximation for a Great Old One: chaotic, unknowable, malevolent. The og 1895 art of the King in Yellow features dark feathered wings. He'd get a crown of horns, a baleful fear-inducing voice, extra eyes and mouths, sharp claws, and a mask of white bone.

3. Angel. John is (a fragment of) a god, and already has a personal aversion to darkness and fixation on redemption. Again he'd get black bird-like wings, extra eyes, glowy eyes, a commanding voice, a mask of pale scales, and we'd ramp up his fear of the dark.

Vehicle Choice: 1934 Ford pickup (tough)
Sample: here