Nickname:
The Unwelcome Guest, The Irritating Murderer, Lord of Pie
Race:
Demon
Age:
23
Gender:
Male
Appearance:
John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt is six foot one inch and between 190 and 200 pounds. A strange, animate mask of white cloth and large ears covers his face, hiding his actual features and contributing to his strange voice. He is clad in the black cloth Night Terror armor with large white gloves and a dull red cape. Around his waist is is trusty Belt of Items, he keeps his bow slung across his back, and twin daggers on either side of his waist. Uncharacteristic of demons, his voice is actually relatively high pitched and friendly sounding fitting more with his personality than a deep and menacing voice would. His wings, which he doesn't usually walk around with activated, are formed of black energy with a faint purple tinge and are blade shaped as though they were meant for swift, deadly cuts.
Nickname:
What was your name again?
Age:
23
Gender:
Male
Appearance:
Weighing in at 5 foot 9 and 150 pounds, Richard is the very definition of scrawny. He keeps his brown hair cut short enough that it doesn't get into his eyes while he is gaming. In regards to clothing, Richard doesn't care too much for fashion. Instead he buys what clothes look cool to him and feel comfortable and proceeds to wear them until they are worn out at which point he will go get more. That said, his parents give him clothes for his birthday and Christmas so his wardrobe does get a mild update twice a year. Lastly, the amount of time he spends indoors playing video games makes him rather pale.
Personality
Outside of video games, Richard doesn't have a lot to say. He is introverted and doesn't put forth much effort in getting to know people around him. Despite his introversion, he can be coaxed into conversations involving video games. Whatever it may seem from the outside, Richard doesn't mind people in general. His not talking to them is not rooted in any inherent dislike of people or feelings of inadequacy. Rather, he simply has nothing to say to them. His only interests lie in video games. He loves playing through a good story and having the chance for his choices to impact the game.
Immersed as he is in the game world now, his behavior has taken a more erratic turn. Now he is extremely extroverted, goofy, and seemingly oblivious to the terror that the threat of death should inspire in everyone in the game world. Part of it is the mask he wears, but with the stress of the game to consider, psychosis may play a roll in his attitude as well.
Background
In all likelihood, Richard was probably more excited to hear about Conquest of Babylon than anything else in his life up to that point. The timing was perfect as he had just graduated college and had been planning to take a few months off before getting a job as he had actually managed to make and save a good deal of money writing code for various computer programs. He didn't really have any close friends and he was distant from his family, both thanks to his highly introverted nature. In absence of friends, family, and any serious commitments, Richard was able to sink himself into the game as soon as it came out. Only a day or two later, he concluded it was the best game he had ever played. Preferring single-player action to multi, Richard wasn't heavily involved in a guild, only joining a large one in order to easily find someone to play the multiplayer-exclusive content with. Despite being the best player in the guild, he didn't have any aspirations to assume a leadership role and wasn't all that active in it anyway. He had named his character John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt mostly as a joke since he usually didn't play games as seriously the first time through.
When Kenpachi Ramasama reset the player levels and equipment and revealed the true purpose of the game, not that anyone was calling it a game anymore, Richard was as surprised as everyone else. At first he didn't believe it, though after numerous logout attempts failed he was forced to admit there might be some truth to what the...thing had said. He became far more careful after that, staying far away from humans and angels. He didn't know if or how the game could kill them in real life as punishment for dying in game, but he didn't want to test it. All he knew for certain was that he couldn't log out, and that players who died weren't respawning so he decided to take Kenpachi at his word and act like death in the game meant death in real life. His first course of action was to link up with members of his guild with the expectation of having safety in numbers.
The reality of the guild was rather different from his expectation. What had been a well-established and powerful guild before had fallen to infighting soon after Kenpachi's revelation. With the stat and equipment reset and doubts as to the truth of the matter in everyone's minds, many players had revolted and sought to increase both their level and standing within the guild by killing off higher ranked members while everyone was still at low levels. The guild gathering quickly descended into an all out free for all, with former allies killing each other left and right. Richard knew he would likely be killed if he allowed himself to get caught up in the killing storm, however he recognized this as a valuable opportunity to gain a good deal of experience that could potentially set him ahead of the level-curve. With a grim mindset, Richard wielded his bow and retreated to the outskirts of the fray. Rather than firing into the confusion of bodies, the demonic archer waited patiently for the wounded to disengage from the fight and attempt to flee. It was these that Richard picked off, shamelessly feeding off the work other players had done whittling down guild members' HP. At this point, it was all about survival. If he didn't kill these people off for the experience gain then someone else would, and then that someone could very well kill Richard. Besides, these people had already shown they would make for poor allies in the new reality of the game world. If not for his focus on survival, Richard would have been surprised at how little it bothered him to kill his former teammates, even if he hadn't really cared about the guild much to begin with. That night he leveled up to the point where his wings returned, paid for with the blood of those who were once his teammates.
As time wore on in the game, Richard found the going easier on his own or in small teams. The bigger groups somehow seemed to get dragged down into infighting too much. Another observation he made that bothered him was the way even the players who had been especially skilled before they were locked in were dying off to lower level players or monsters that shouldn't have given them so much trouble. After awhile, it occurred to him that they were dying because they weren't playing the game, they were trying to survive. The problem was that people, himself included, were living in fear and focused on survival. That wasn't what the game was built for; the game was built for playing, he realized. With this revelation, a grin spread under the mask Richard wore. Perhaps it was the stress of the situation. Perhaps it was his introverted personality. Perhaps he had underlying psychotic potential. Perhaps it was a lot of things, but in the end, something in Richard snapped. Something that had been inhibiting him on a fundamental level from engaging in the game and doing what he needed to survive.. From that point on, he did not know fear, he was no longer trapped, he was no longer even Richard. Kenpachi wanted them to play the game, the game he had gotten so good at weeks ago, and play he would. For now he was John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt, and if this was going to be the last game he ever played, he was going to make the most out of it.
Since his revelation, John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt has become a bit of an oddity. If there is one person who doesn't appear to take the situation seriously, it's him. Rather than being fearful, angry, or some other negative emotion, he will generally be happy, oblivious, carefree, or even downright whimsical.
Bow of Denial:
What looks to be a simple, poorly crafted, wooden bow is actually the Bow of Denial, a powerful dark weapon crafted by an insane weapon-maker. The maker, for reasons unknown, was famous for disbelieving everything around him. His denial of reality was so strong that he was actually able to accomplish feats deemed impossible because he so vehemently refused to believe the challenge even existed in the first place. This denial carried over to the bow he crafted, imbuing it with a paradoxical consciousness. When the string is drawn back without notching an arrow, the bow refuses to accept that there is no arrow and crafts its own arrow of darkness. Furthermore, the bow itself refuses to acknowledge the existence of all armor types, and the arrows it fires ignore all armor. Oddly enough, those the arrows strike can't help but notice a distinct taste of cranberries in their mouth.
John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt convinced the weapon-maker to give him the bow through the use of clever word play. He did so by convincing the nutty man that he was real, while the weapon-maker himself was not. The lunatic gave him the bow in thanks before he abruptly ceased to exist.
The Debilitator:
The first in a set of daggers that JJJ-S won in a contest of skill with another player. A being that suffers an injury from this weapon will take a penalty to movement and attack speed. Repeated hits do not increase the total time of reduced speed, however they do reset the timer on the effect. The contest was the shell game. Three shells lay on the table, and a single pebble lay underneath but one of the shells. The man moved the shells back and forth with considerable speed, pushing the shells around and around, even sliding the pebble from under one shell to hide it beneath another. John picked the correct shell and thus won The Debilitator.
The Dumbfounder:
The second in a set of daggers that JJJ-S won in a contest of skill with another player. A being that suffers an injury from this weapon will be rendered mute for a short time. Repeated hits do not increase the total time of silencing, however they do reset the timer on the effect. Not content to watch The Debilitator walk away from him, the man challenged John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt to play again, this time betting The Dumbfounder in an effort to win back his other blade. The contest began again, the con-man moving shells around at a furious speed. This time, however, he stealthily removed the pebble from the table in the middle of the game, resorting to cheating to get his blade back. Unfortunately for the would-be cheat, he was not fast enough to fool JJJ-S, who saw through the ruse immediately. JJJ-S dropped a piano of magical energy on the man, crushing him instantly, before taking the remaining dagger and taking his leave of the foolish con-man.
Night Terror Armor Set:
Mask of Seeing: Allows JJJ-S to notice the weak points his bow refuses to acknowledge, providing an increase in critical hit chance.
Cloak of Lies: Active Invisibility or Camouflage, grants invisibility or disguises the user as another object or being of comparable size. No upkeep until JJJ-S attacks or is attacked at which point the cloak begins to drain mana from JJJ-S at a moderate rate.
Night Terror Bodysuit: Provides a moderate bonus to physical attack damage, creates a spell shield that shields JJJ-S from one spell, recharges every 60 seconds he is not struck by an enemy attack.
Night Terror Bracers: Provide a moderate bonus to attack speed and hit rate.
Boots of Creeping: JJJ-S' footsteps make no noise while wearing these.
Set Bonus: JJJ-S can identify status ailments affecting foes, attacks deal additional damage to foes with status ailments.
The Necklace of Astoundingly Deep Perception:
This valuable necklace immensely deepens the perceptive powers of the wearer and vibrates slightly and heats up in the presence of enemies, hostile magic, and booby traps. It has a side-effect of causing the wearer to have deep moments of introspection from time to time. JJJ-S came across this useful necklace in the middle of a complex web of booby traps. He first watched a boastful adventurer nimbly make his way through the traps to get the necklace. Fairly impressed, JJJ-S congratulated the man upon his exiting the boob traps before promptly shooting him in the back with the Bow of Denial and taking the necklace for himself.
Potions:
JJJ-S has acquired a potion of significant mana restoration as well as one of significant health regeneration
The World's Smallest Violin:
From this instrument which JJJ-S plays between his thumb and index-finger issue the most haunting and tragic of melodies. Humans, angels, demons, and unaligned monsters alike have been known to weep at the melodies that issue forth from this, the smallest of violins. JJJ-S uses this instrument to accentuate the feelings of loss and hardship felt by those around him. However he also enjoys using it to rub salt on the wound, so to speak, and irritate other players. (Non-Combat item)
Thin Air:
Using magic the user conjures a random item out of thin air, not being able to control it but dropping it from above them in a dramatic fashion. The magically created item drops to the ground, smashing down on whatever is beneath and staying for several minutes before finally dissipating as if it were never there at all, though the aftermath proves its existence.
"What's this? What's this?" - 4 word chant.
Jack in the Box:
This spell creates an invisible Jack in the Box in a specified location, being impossible to see unless someone has the ability to detect invisible items. When an enemy approaches it becomes visible, fearing nearby enemies and shooting magical beams from its mouth at the closest target, dealing high magical damage. The fear only lasts several seconds, as does the damage, and the Jack in the Box vanishes. It can also be destroyed before it vanishes by anyone who has the chance to hit it before the time runs up, being quite weak to attacks.
"It’s my Jack in a Box, my Jack in a Box yeah!" - 12 word chant. (fear makes an enemy unable to cast/attack and they move randomly for a few seconds)
Blank Stare:
A utility move of JJJ-S’ that he uses to travel short to medium distances instantly. He stares off at a location or area with a blank expression on his face for several moments, his head tilted slightly to the side before finally he disappears, reappearing mere seconds later in the chosen location.
"What oh what could be over there?" - 7 word chant.
Pie:
The user throws a magical pie into the face of his opponent, or places one in wait for an enemy. Upon impact or JJJ-S’ desire it detonates, dealing magical damage of his choice, JJJ-S claiming that he can change the damage because he can change the flavor of pie, leading to different types of damage.
Cherry: Fire Damage/Can cause burn status ailment. Blueberry: Ice Damage/Can Freeze a target with a direct hit or cause slow in a small area around impact. Apple: Poison, no initial damage but high over time damage. Peach: Concussive Explosion/Can cause a stun effect. Blackberry: Dark damage, no status effect
"Would you care for a pie?" - 6 word chant.
Here's Johnny:
A number of perfect duplicates spring out from JJJ-S with distracting flourishes while the original turns invisible until he makes an attack, is successfully attacked, or cancels the spell. The illusory duplicates run around the area for the duration of the spell singing the John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt song in perfect harmony as loud as they can and replicating each time they take damage. Because of the dual effects and potential scope of this spell, it imposes a fair drain on JJJ-S' mana and will cancel either at his behest, or when he runs out of mana.
"Whenever I go out, the people always shout, 'There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt!'" - 13 word chant.
Rain of Arrows:
JJJ-S begins rapidly firing arrows at a target or area, making a pincushion of a specific target or giving a suppressive fire effect to a certain area. This ability can do large amounts of damage to a single target or it can limit the movements and ability of enemies in an area.
A Pain in the Ass:
The pinnacle of JJJ-S’ ranged abilities. A single arrow that JJJ-S charges up before firing, its damage and speed increasing the longer he holds it before firing. The arrow deals tremendous damage and is almost impossible to dodge as well as being able to be fired from incredible distances. Also, for some unexplainable reason it always hits the target right in their ass.
Flesh Wound:
Flesh Wound is a painful cut to the right part of an enemy that doesn’t aim to kill but instead to maim. Targets hit by this gain an instance of the 'bleed' status ailment.
Another One Bites the Dust:
The pinnacle of JJJ-S’ melee techniques. He moves in quickly, using his stealthy nature to come up behind an enemy, rapidly slicing at every weak point he lays his eyes upon in an attempt to leave and enemy in a bloody mess. While the effect is generally more effective on less armored targets it can also be devastating to highly armored targets and becomes more powerful the longer a fight goes on as he sees additional weak points. Also, the lower a targets health the more damage it can do. While not an instakill move it does have the potential to deal such massive amounts of damage that it could blindside its target. This would be when a target has been engaged with JJJ-S in combat for an extended duration and has already taken a high amount of damage, JJJ-S’ lack of defense being made up for entirely with this.
Back for More:
JJJ-S does additional damage when attack an opponent from behind, dealing 150% damage from all sources if he manages to catch someone from behind.
Shady Intentions:
JJJ-S is nearly impossible to read, his true personality and desires hidden behind literal and figurative masks. This allows his movements to be difficult to read giving him a higher than average evasion rate and making his attacks more difficult to avoid. In addition figuring out whether he is lying or not is next to impossible.
Oddly Inspirational:
While it doesn’t make sense JJJ-S’ rather carefree and aloof nature inspires those fighting alongside him, keeping their spirits up and sending them into battle without hesitation. All those fighting with JJJ-S are granted a small passive movement speed and a moderate attack speed buff.
Gift of Gab:
While often only annoying his gift for speech allows him to barter more efficiently and be quite persuasive. In regular conversations if can lead to random results but he also receives a 10% discount when purchasing items from stores.
Strange Stances:
JJJ-S has a number of peculiar stances for fighting. The purpose and function of such stances are constantly in question, but they appear to be no more than matters of aesthetic.
Demonic Strengths:
Boosted physical strength and offensive magic power as well as an additional boost to dark-based magic.
Light Hurts:
Weak to light-based magic
The Michael Jordan of Violinists:
JJJ-S rocks the house with his violin skills. He has achieved total mastery of this musical instrument and can play violins of any shape and size. He is to violins what Michael Jordan is to basketball.
I am the Pie:
Never has a more talented pie-maker walked the lands. Not all of his pies are lethal, only some of them. The rest are actually quite delicious. So delicious in fact that he has earned the title 'Lord of Pie'.