Application for Luceti

[brat_from_hell]

PLAYER

Name: Lex
Journal Username: N/A
E-mail: evil_wild_lex (at) yahoo (dot) com
AIM/PLURK: FightingSpirit
Current Characters at Luceti: Bulla Brief fashionably_strong


CHARACTER

Name: Hellmaster Phibrizzo
Canon: Slayers
Gender: Male
Age: His exact age is unknown, but canon references cite him as being approximately 5000 years old. Physically, he looks like he’s about eight years old.
Wing Color: Black with a white pattern that looks vaguely like an electrical current weaving through them

Canon Point: End of episode 25 of Slayers NEXT
Canon Point Explanation: After some extensive planning, Phibrizzo’s plans unravel in the most unexpected way – an appearance from his mother, who is decidedly NOT happy with his plans to destroy the universe. He’s going to assume that he’s been sent to Luceti as a punishment.

History:

(Player's note: I got a little long winded because the Slayers wiki doesn't really give an in depth explanation of Phibrizzo's role in canon, so I'm providing a short version and a long version)

Short version:
Phibrizzo plotted the end of the universe for a thousand years because he was an over-achiever amongst a race of immortals created for chaos and destruction. He manipulated people by taking on a child's form, and came up with a scheme that involved a sorceress named Lina Inverse and getting her to cast a powerful spell called the Giga Slave that could destroy the universe if it went out of control. In the end, it didn't work out.

Long version:
Approximately 5000 years ago, Hellmaster Phibrizzo was created as the strongest of the five generals of Ruby Eye Shabranigdo, a god of destruction. He was made Shabranigdo's right hand man (or monster, in this case) and had power over death and the afterlife. Their race, the Mazoku, were created by a multiversal goddess called the Lord of Nightmares, and they were created for the purpose of chaos and destruction. Phibrizzo was dedicated to that role and instigated a world war called the Kouma war 1000 years ago, losing many of his own minions in the process. During that time, he discovered a spell called the Giga Slave, which could draw on the power of the Lord of Nightmares. Mazoku were incapable of drawing on the power of higher beings, and it was almost unheard of for a human to have the magic capacity needed to cast the spell. However, if it went out of control, it could destroy the universe.

During the Kouma war, his brother and fellow general Chaos Dragon Gaav was sealed into a human body to cut him off from some of his power, and was reborn over and over again. As this went on, he eventually turned against the Mazoku race. He was still a dangerous enemy even with his reduced power, and a liability, thus it became Phibrizzo's task to deal with him. That opportunity came in the form of Lina Inverse, a sorceress capable of casting the incredibly powerful Giga Slave.

Hellmaster Phibrizzo borrowed his sister and fellow general's strongest minion Xellos and used Xellos to indirectly guide Lina to where she could learn more about mastering the Giga Slave, and to where she could mess up Gaav's plans. He also let it slip that he had plans involving Lina Inverse to ensure that Gaav's servants would target Lina, so that Lina would be involved regardless of if she wanted to be or not.

Eventually, Phibrizzo got involved a little more directly. In the guise of a little local boy, he picked Lina's pocket. As he'd expected, she caught him and insisted that he pay for what he'd done. He gave her directions and sent her on her way to find the Clair Bible - a vast source of knowledge that he knew would allow her to master the Giga Slave. When Princess Martina of the kingdom of Xoana showed up, he decided to give her directions to the Clair Bible as well under one condition: she had to take him with her and give him a piggyback.

Gaav attacked almost immediately after Lina came back from her encounter with the Clair Bible and Phibrizzo watched as pieces of his plan fell into place. An intense battle ensued between Lina and her friends and Gaav. Phibrizzo had hoped that Lina would use the Giga Slave fighting Gaav, but since she didn't, he went ahead and went after Gaav himself. After unsuccessfully trying to sever the link between Gaav's human and mazoku side, Phibrizzo finished Gaav off with a snap of his fingers. Realizing that Lina wouldn't comply with his request without some leverage, he captured swordsman Gourry Gabriev and told Lina that if she wanted him back to come to the phantom city of Sairaag.

Phibrizzo got bored of waiting for Lina and her friends to get to Sairaag and decided to have some cruel fun at their expense in the meantime. He took control of Gourry's mind and had him attack Lina's party in armour that concealed his face. While under the Hellmaster's control, Gourry was able to tap into the full power of his weapon the Sword of Light. Phibrizzo only released Gourry from his control after Lina broke the mask on his helm and saw who had been attacking the group the whole time. Gourry got the brief horror and confusion of seeing Lina attack him before Phibrizzo imprisoned him again and took him to Sairaag.

Upon arriving in Sairaag, Lina and her friends discovered that Phibrizzo's power had fully revived the city that had been blown up in a magical explosion roughly a year before. All of the citizens appeared to be alive save for one thing - they all lacked a heartbeat. They were animated by the Hellmaster's power and retained their personalities, but they weren't able to share any information that Phibrizzo didn't want them to. Later on, Phibrizzo used them to prevent Lina and her friends from leaving Sairaag.

Eventually, Phibrizzo grew tired of his games and teleported Lina and her friends into one location for the final showdown. He had Gourry encased in crystal and told Lina that if she managed to kill him (Phibrizzo), that Gourry would be freed. Instead of following his instructions, Lina and Sylphiel (also a sorceress) teamed up and cast a less powerful but still highly destructive spell in tandem. It surprised Phibrizzo and he informed Lina that he'd punish her well for that before producing five little spheres (actually the souls of her friends). He began killing off her friends one by one by crushing the spheres. Lina was distraught but still didn't cast the Giga Slave. Phibrizzo encased their bodies in magical crystal that preserved their life force and told them that she could still save them if she managed to kill him.

Phibrizzo finally provoked the response he wanted when he threatened to shatter the crystal containing Gourry's body. Or at least, that was what he thought he wanted. He moved to attack Lina as she was casting the Giga Slave so that the chaos energy would run wild and consume the world. The one thing he didn't know about the Giga Slave was that it didn't just draw power from the Lord of Nightmares - it was the Lord of Nightmares, and she was not happy with Phibrizzo.

Personality:

Phibrizzo is a monster. Literally. The name of his race - mazoku - translates roughly to “evil race” or “monster race” and the stronger ones are something akin to dark gods. At best, mazoku are neutral sociopaths. At worst, they’re brutal sadists who thrive on the suffering of others. In fact, they literally feed off of negative emotions. They don’t need to consume food or eat souls. Negative emotions and chaos are more than enough to sustain them. As one of the highest ranked mazoku, Phibrizzo is a shining example of these unpleasant characteristics.

Phibrizzo is an intelligent, calculating, long range planner. He is capable of biding his time for many years to accomplish a goal if need be (and indeed, planned something over the course of a thousand years). He considers many possible complications and how to best deal with them, and he's also able to adjust his plans based on new information in order to get what he wants. His plans are complex and allow him to stay hidden and let the pieces fall into place. When he wants to draw his brother Gaav out, he lets it slip around some of Gaav’s minions that he has plans involving Lina Inverse. As a result, Gaav’s minions target her, and she inevitably winds up messing up all of Gaav’s plans to advance himself. In addition to being a planner, Phibrizzo is a skilled manipulator. He deliberately takes on the appearance of a child so that he'll be underestimated and easily trusted. He's very skilled at knowing exactly what he needs to say or do to get under someone's skin, to guide them in a specific direction, or to force their hand into making a decision they don't want to make. He also rarely outright lies, so much as lies through omission or through how he phrases something.

Phibrizzo is sadistic. While he won't act without a reason, and doesn't engage in wanton brutality, his methods are crueler than they really need to be in order to accomplish his goals. There are a number of ways he could have tried to force Lina to comply with his request to cast the Giga Slave. He could have made threats, but instead he uses his power to crush the souls of Lina's friends so she can watch them die painfully one by one. Prior to that, he kidnapped the person most important to Lina, and then used mind-control on him to make him attack Lina and the rest of her friends, only releasing Gourry from said control after they attacked him. Some of this is in his nature, as he was created to feed off of negative emotions. In addition to being sadistic, he's also somewhat childish (possibly as a result of taking on a child's form and learning how to convincingly act as a child). He flat out says "Human lives are my toys", and he plays games with people (including making a princess give him a piggyback). Although he is capable of adjusting his plans, when he's disappointed, he doesn't take it with calm grace. He throws temper tantrums, complete with banging his fists, complaining and sulking.

Strange as it might sound, Phibrizzo is capable of considerable loyalty and devotion. If he's given a task or he feels something will please those he's devoted to, he will do it to the very best of his ability. He was created for chaos, suffering, death and destruction, and since he believes it's what his "parents" want, he goes out of his way to ensure the destruction of the entire universe. His brother Gaav is a traitor, so he comes up with a plan to draw Gaav out and deal with him one way or another. Because Gaav is one of Phibrizzo's own, he actually preferred to not kill him, but upon finding out that the mazoku part of Gaav can't be separated from the human part and that Gaav won't swear allegiance to him, Phibrizzo finishes him off with a snap of his fingers. Not only is he capable of loyalty, but he expects it of others, and has a low opinion of traitors. Betray him, and you are dead to him. He has a more civil relationship with his other siblings, whom he maintained a barrier with for over a thousand years. He was even able to borrow his sister Zellas’ general-priest, Xellos, since Phibrizzo had lost all of his stronger subordinates in the Kouma war.

Strengths

Physical: As the strongest of Ruby Eye Shabranigdo’s generals, Phibrizzo is extremely powerful. He’s able to take an amplified Dragonslave (the most powerful black magic spell which can turn a large city into a crater) head on at close range and shrug it off. Like all mid to high level mazoku, he can pass himself off as human and is capable of casting many of the same spells that human sorcerers do. This is, in part, how mazoku pass for human while accounting for any oddities in their appearance. Mazoku are magical energy based beings who reside primarily on the astral plane. Their physical bodies are projections of their power, and the more human they look, the more powerful they are. Phibrizzo is able to fool Lina Inverse, who’s very experienced in dealing with mazoku, and he’s able to conceal his presence from his older brother Gaav. Like all mid to high level mazoku, he’s also able to fly, remotely speak to others while not being physically present (so they hear a disembodied voice), retreat to the astral plane, and can teleport not only himself but others. Unlike other mazoku, Phibrizzo shows the ability to teleport people who are nowhere near him.

As one might guess given the title Hellmaster, Phibrizzo’s primary domain is over death and the afterlife. Drawing on his power, he’s able to revive a city that had been completely demolished, down to every last citizen, animal, plant, and even non-living things like the buildings. The only thing missing was the heartbeats of the beings he reanimated. Unfortunately for any being he’s revived, they’re partially under his control – they can go about their business and have some free will, but can’t go against him. Phibrizzo has an attack that is literally soul-crushing, by producing a small golden sphere that represents a person’s soul. Phibrizzo can encase a dying person in crystal to keep their life energy inside. Phibrizzo’s magic appears as predominantly black energy, and he’s been shown trapping people in it, as well as destroying them in a small vortex of dark energy that looks something like a tiny black hole. Phibrizzo is also shown using mind-control. While Gourry Gabriev is under his control, Phibrizzo not only makes Gourry attack his own friends but draws out Gourry’s full potential for battle as well.

Others are able to draw on Phibrizzo’s power if they know how to – the easiest one to learn would be his spell Ragna Blast. However, using an artefact known as Hellmaster’s Jar that was created using Phibrizzo’s power, a legendary priest named Rezo is able to encase every citizen in a kingdom in crystal so they can be kept in stasis until a cure is developed for the disease.

Mental: Phibrizzo is highly intelligent. He’s calculating, perceptive, and clever. He knows how to manipulate people effectively to achieve his goals. He’s also very patient. He formed his plan to destroy the universe over the course of a thousand years. His plans are flexible, because he’s smart enough to understand that not everything will go as planned. He’d been hoping that Lina Inverse would be forced to try using the Giga Slave while fighting his brother Gaav so that he’d be in a position to make the chaos energy go out of control and destroy everything. When that didn’t happen, he adapted and kidnapped Lina’s friend Gourry as leverage instead.

Emotional: Phibrizzo is capable of considerable loyalty. Without being ordered to, he will act in the best interests of those he’s loyal to. He’ll put in his very best effort to achieve what he believes are their goals. He was willing to try to destroy the universe including himself out of loyalty to his Mother - the Lord of Nightmares. While this degree of loyalty is primarily granted to those he’s subordinate to, he will also show more mercy than he’s naturally inclined to if he’s attached to someone. In spite of Gaav’s betrayal of the mazoku race, he nonetheless tried to “fix” Gaav, and gave him a brief opportunity to swear allegiance before being killed. Phibrizzo had taken a liking to Princess Martina, and spared her life when she ran at him to attack him for deceiving her. He’s not a kind or good individual, but he will show more restraint with some than others.

Weaknesses

Physical: Magic and energy attacks can damage a mazoku. It takes quite a bit more to damage one at Phibrizzo’s level than it does a lower level mazoku, but he can be harmed by any other magic than his own (since using his own spell against him would be something akin to asking “Hi, can you help me kill you?”) Anyone can cast magic that draws power from him, regardless of whether he supports it or not, as long as it’s not being used against him. A person could tap into his power for a cause Phibrizzo didn’t necessarily support or to kill someone Phibrizzo didn’t want killed. Holy magic is particularly strong against his race, since they are malevolent energy-based beings. Although he is capable of using magic, he is incapable of using holy or healing magic. In addition to magic, mazoku are also adversely affected by positive emotions. Since they feed on negative emotions, positive emotions make them feel ill.

Additionally, when he’s separated from his considerable magical power and he’s in his projected physical body, that physical body is an eight year old boy with no superhuman enhancements. Phibrizzo is reliant on his powers and trickery. About the best he could do in a physical fight would be hit people in sensitive and vulnerable places and hope he hit hard enough to give himself time to get away.

Mental: Phibrizzo cannot draw power from a higher level mazoku lord (such as casting the Dragonslave that draws power from Ruby Eye Shabranigdo or casting the Ragna Blade or Giga Slave, which draws power from the Lord of Nightmares). It means denying his own existence and power, which is why he needed to find someone capable of casting the Giga Slave for his plans to destroy the universe to work in the first place. While Phibrizzo is intelligent, he’s not as all-knowing as he’d like people to think he is and he can be taken by surprise. An example of this is when Lina has cast her amplified Dragonslave at him, and then Sylphiel comes in with a surprise Dragonslave a second later. Phibrizzo had been prepared for Lina’s, but not for Sylphiel’s and had to abruptly retreat to the astral plane because he wasn’t confident that he could take both spells without being seriously harmed. He’s distinctly unhappy at being caught by surprise, and tells them he’ll have to punish them well for it. Phibrizzo likes having control, and he can be arrogant about it. Disrupt that control, and he becomes a vindictive little creep fast.

Emotional: Phibrizzo is incapable of truly positive emotions, like joy and compassion. As mentioned in the physical section, positive emotions are actually harmful to him. Phibrizzo doesn’t handle failure well, and will have a kicking, fist-banging, shrieking tantrum when his carefully laid out plans don’t go his way. For a five thousand year old evil mastermind, he’s pretty immature. He plays games with people for his own entertainment, even when it’s completely unnecessary. At one point when he’s posing as a human child, he pesters Princess Martina to give him a piggyback. He actually says “human lives are my toys” at another point, and it’s evident that he really believes that in the way that he toys with Lina and her friends.

Anything else?: Phibrizzo’s true form is on the astral plane and looks like a giant black and white lava lamp. No, really. It does. His physical body is something he creates in order to interact with others. For the purpose of allowing him to participate in events in game where powers are nullified, he’ll be stuck in his physical body with no access to the astral plane rather than stuck on the astral plane with no access to his physical body.

In order to make him play nice-ish with the other characters, Phibrizzo won’t be revealing his nastier characteristics in any obvious way. Instead, he’ll pretend to be a sorcerer who happens to be a child prodigy to keep adults from fussing over his safety too much. He will deliberately try to annoy people or make them anxious about their fears to feed on their negative emotions (which has no harmful effect on the character whatsoever – just being in their presence when they’re feeling angry, frightened or sad is enough to feed a mazoku), but he is not going to try destroying Luceti. In fact, when he discovers that death is a revolving door here, he’s going to see it as his responsibility to fix it.

Also, I am using the romanization of Phibrizzo rather than Fibrizo because that’s how it’s spelled in the official DVD release that I have. The wiki has it spelled as Fibrizo though.

SAMPLES

First Person:

Test Flight meme links: here, here and here

Third Person:

This was a punishment. There was no other explanation for it. When the Lord of Nightmares appeared before him, she was displeased by his attempt to destroy the universe. He’d thought that was her goal – to be reunited with her creations in the sea of chaos. That had been a mistake and now he’d found himself here in this enclosure called Luceti. What was more, there were wings on his physical form that he couldn’t do anything about. Though he could teleport within the barrier, he’d quickly found that teleporting outside of it was beyond even his power. Even with reduced power, that was an impressive barrier. It had to be her doing. Who else would be capable? For that matter, who else could reduce his power?

Phibrizzo spent nearly an hour sulking about his situation before he finally looked at the journal left with him, and found a copy of the guide. Some of it made sense, while some of it was baffling. What jumped out at him was the idea that death wasn’t permanent here. On the contrary, aside from a person taking on some sort of loss, death seemed to be a revolving door. Reading this, it felt as if his very domain had been cheapened. Was that part of her punishment? To torment him with this atrocity? Or was this a challenge? The very system of death and the afterlife was broken here. Perhaps Mother expected him to fix it before he could return home. A mere few days ago, he would have claimed to know what she wanted. Now he wasn’t so sure. What he knew was that this required further investigation.

First things first, he needed to find people who’d explain things to him. In that, this form was both an advantage and a disadvantage. He could get away with asking quite a few more questions than an adult because children were frequently inquisitive. However, there were topics that people were hesitant to discuss with children. If he put on too much of a cloying act, people might decide he was too young to explain much of anything to. He’d likely learn more if people didn’t feel the need to usher him off to wherever was safe at the slightest sign of conflict, too. With that in mind, he decided on the perfect act to maintain here in Luceti. He’d be a child prodigy mage – intelligent enough to not condescend to and powerful enough to not be defenseless, but still young and relatively innocent.

That settled, he roamed around until he found the nearest adult to ask for directions. He tugged on a woman’s sleeve and put on his best innocent look.

“Excuse me, miss, but I’m lost and a lot of things in this book don’t make any sense whatsoever.”