Guardians of the Divine Light {ooc/signups}

The Dark Ruler



Full Name: Lord Blackwater

Nicknames: The King of Depths, The Sinking Emperor

Gender: Male

Age: 38

Physical Description: Blackwater stands at 6’ 4” (193 cm) and weighs about 200 lbs. (90.7 kg) with a strong, wiry frame. His skin is coppery and scarred, like an old penny; he has red hair and narrow, burgundy eyes. He tends to dresses in fine clothes in shades of black and warm colors (which contrast with his watery affinity and cold personality), generally sporting a checker or argyle pattern. When acting in an official “dark lord” capacity, he dresses in a manner reminiscent of a Japanese shogun (ex.), and while travelling about he dresses similar to a 1920’s gangster style (ex.). Beneath his clothes he possesses elaborate full-body tattoos of sharks, the most notable being a mural of a shark’s jaws enclosing around the world on his back. Though he maintains an excellent level of hygiene and personal grooming, he is not prissy nor narcissistic about his appearance.

Likes: Chess, wordplay, storms, cold weather, sharks

Dislikes: Cowards, people with no dreams or ambitions, people who enjoy inflicting pain on others without understanding pain themselves

Personality: Blackwater comes across instantly as shady and treacherous despite it outwardly friendly manner. Deep inside he is spiteful towards almost everyone and everything, a spite that has its roots in feelings of being an outsider and lack of any real joy or hope in his life. He is incredibly sadistic, delighting in the suffering of others, though it is preference not to torment people directly (considering direct physical torture to a restrained victim especially to be the height of inelegance), viewing it as ‘cheating’ as he would much rather revel in the suffering brought on by natural circumstances, or better yet, their own actions. His philosophy is that opposing people directly with torture and oppression will only serve to challenge them and make them grow stronger, but increasing their doubt in themselves and the world around them will make the weaker, and ultimately break them.

He also has a quirk in that he will not antagonize animals or very small children, though this is not out of any sense of morality or compassion, but rather because he feels it is pointless to inflict pain on those who cannot understand the true depths of what they are experiencing. If those around him commit such acts, however, he rarely goes out of his way to stop them, being utterly callous to the suffering of others. One thing he absolutely hates is seeing others taking undue enjoyment in self-indulgent forms of oppression, such as bullying or rape, as he feels their focus is too much on empowering the inflictor, as opposed to appreciating the despair of the victim for its own sake.

Blackwater takes a laid-back approach to tyranny; he is patient and willing to wait for the grand scheme to come together, at which time his casual demeanor will flip into matchless ruthlessness. A deceiver and manipulator who throws enemies off guard by treating them with politeness, he is always on the lookout for desperate and miserable souls to bring under his influence.
He is not wasteful towards his minions, treating cordially and even teasing them, unconcerned with an imposing, oppressive image (though some would argue this insincere friendliness only makes him more frightening). To those who become too careless around him, however, or towards serious enemies he is unswervingly brutal, and may make uncharacteristic outbursts of violent anger.
He can seem austere at times, completely shunning worldly pleasures, but this is actually because he is almost totally incapable of actually enjoying or understanding them. Also, despite being an insidious scoundrel and a manipulative bastard, he possesses more genuine courage and willpower than many heroes (in his mind, one cannot bear the burden of Absolute Despair without powerful dark dreams and the inner resolve to achieve them) and it is one of his greatest loves to taunt heroes who are inferior to him in this regard. Ironically, for all his ambition and determination to achieve greater heights, he only wishes to attain such a level in order to drive the world into the dust.

Biography: Very little is known about the early history of Timothy Blackwater. What is known is that he was raised from birth as a member of a vast criminal organization, of which Clan Blackwater was but one cadre of assassins. He was hailed as a genius from a young age, and became one of their most powerful and prolific agents by the age of nineteen, and even his peers began to believe he was a demon in the flesh. He eventually attracted the attention of the Dark Lord, who was at the time sweeping across the land with his legions, conquering nations left and right, forcing them to bow before his will and to worship him as a god. Timothy became his one of his most loyal supporters, helping him to bring the last few pockets of resistance to heel and preventing all would-be assassins from executing him. The Dark Lord never expected that his demise would come from his own right hand. After ten years of unerringly faithful service, on the eve of the Dark Lord’s self-coronation as God-Who-Walks-The-Earth, Timothy Blackwater murdered him in the middle of a self-aggrandizing speech, stealing his throne and crown for himself, saying only, “If he was a god, then I...am the devil.” However, unlike the previous Dark Lord who wanted only to rule the world and be worshipped by all beings, Blackwater desired to plunge the world into darkness and destruction, decimating the population and orchestrating mass devastation in order to bring about what he calls “Absolute Despair”. He wanted people to reach a point where they would first start killing themselves, and then abandon even suicide as a pointless act, resigning themselves to slowly become one with the dust. However, this was the last glimmer of motivation the people needed. Now faced with destruction rather than a mere loss of freedom, the people renewed their resistance against the new Dark Lord’s armies. Unfortunately for them, their revitalized war effort hasn’t been doing well enough...

Powers:
Elemental Ability: Aptly enough, Blackwater possesses the elemental power of water, however, it has evolved considerably since his ascension. His power reflects the cold, lightless depths of the oceanic abyss, and includes powers of gravity (that which pulls down), and pressure (that which pushes down) associating with the crushing deep.
Psychic Power: Telepathy (at its strongest against dreaming targets)
Enhanced Physical Abilities

Weapon: Urumi for melee, Sniper rifle/crossbow for ranged

Skills: From his assassin training, Blackwater is an excellent martial artist and a master of such arts as stealth, disguise, and infiltration. This expertise is also the reason he has hitherto been impossible to assassinate, as he knows what to expect. He is also knowledgeable about military strategy, sailing, and engineering from his days of commanding sappers and navies for the previous Dark Lord.

Theme Song: “King Zero” by Drowning Pool