Misfortune

Misfortune is a wandering fortune-teller with the unique ability to grant wishes, big or small. He presents himself as a wise and polite problem-solver with a somewhat pushy salesman-like demeanor. While his polite nature is no lie, it belies sinister intentions: the destruction of all worlds by the Void.
He was created by @fauslayer.
==Background== 
Misfortune is the after-effects of a wish gone wrong at the end of Super Paper Mario. Attempting to push the Chaos Heart towards creating instead of destroying, a near-dead Luigi accidentally turned himself into a non-stop wish granting machine. Luigi was effectively "burnt up" by the Void as it attempted to grant all wishes in the world at once, transporting the party back to the Mushroom Kingdom on Peach's silent wish and creating a near-utopia out of Toad Town. The conflicts of wishes and the appetite of the Void caused it to crumble as fast as it was built, however. As Mario wished for his brother back, the concept of a Luigi was forced back into the shell, but only after the world was destroyed did anything "Luigi-like" truly wake up.
With a new sense of personhood, Misfortune is obliged to operate by its "programming", seeking to make people happy, grant their wishes, and reassure them of their futures, just as Luigi surely would.(..?)
You can read the full Misfortune Backstory Material below, by pressing the "[Expand]" button.
Misfortune came into being near the tail end of the Void fiasco, as Super Dimentio tumbled to the ground. The Void shook the ground. The Count was nowhere to be seen, his minions also absent. Stopping the end of all was down to one man: a half-conscious Luigi, being cradled by his concerned brother and tired out of his wits. As the Chaos Heart's power thrummed through him, Luigi's bleary mind tried to push against the malignant force; to reroute it, somehow. Not only did he want to save everyone, to put everything back in its place, but he truly wanted to make this world a better one. A lot of love went into what he said next.
"I wish I could grant everyone's wishes..." he muttered, curling in on himself as his eyes fluttered shut. A nonsensical dream, but a noble one. Mario held onto his brother tighter, the Princess consoling him while Bowser stood behind, looking over his shoulder with bated breath.
Quiet.
And then his eyes opened.
Luigi gasped for air, jolting upright and startling the other heroes. They sat anxious as he coughed his lungs out, eyes wild and scared. He felt a hand on his back, undoubtedly Mario's. Bowser was hauling him to his feet, though his vision was swimming so terribly that he could only tell by the voice and the cross-sounding reaction from the princess. He wobbled as he stood, still coughing. It felt like there was something in his lungs.
"He must've inhaled some dust from the rubble of that...thing." Peach wrung her hands in worry. In response, Bowser hastily shoved a stashed-away Shroom Shake into her arms. Giving a brief nod of thanks, she popped the top off and offered it to Luigi, who's head was down. "It...may not be much, but if I could channel some healing magic through you as you drink it, it may be able to deal with the blockage."
Luigi didn't respond. He didn't even seem to hear her. His coughing fit just worsened.
"Luigi?" Mario whispered as he worriedly patted his back.
Tippi spoke up. "Wait...S-Something is wrong!"
Following that was a brilliant moment. Luigi's head raised, staring at nothing in particular. Black was smeared down his face, pouring from his eyes and mouth in fat globs. Peach dropped the shake on the ground, placing a hand on her parasol handle, Bowser uncertainly getting into a fighting stance behind her. Mario didn't back down, hugging his brother in hopes that an act of love would save them once more.
"Aagguaaahh--" Luigi half-gurgled, body shaking. There was someone holding onto him. He could vaguely see...shapes. People blended into the walls into each other into the world. The world the world the world.
I wish I were back home, so I could tell my Toads everything is going to be alright. Man, this sucks! I don't wanna die here! I wish we were home. Where is Blumiere? I wish at least we could be together one last time...
The ground shifted underneath them, knocking them off their feet onto soft, warm grass. Peach looked up in horror to see the Void looming over her castle, bits of paint flecking into the sky one by one. "M-Mario, I--"
"BLUMIERE!" Tippi fluttered to the crumpled body of her lost love in jittering hysterics. "Mario, something is very very wrong!"
Mario kept holding onto his brother. Luigi began to raise slightly off the ground. He dared not let go.
please please please please please. I wish this road wasn't so bumpy. I wish I had something better to eat at a time like this. I wish the Void would shut up! I wish I was at home with my kids, I don't need to be on duty during all this. I wish this would just stop already. I wish the Void would disappear!
Luigi's mind was flooded in hopes and dreams. His body twitched as he raised further and further into the air, perfectly poised; such a beautiful marionette. Mario held onto his brother until Bowser pulled him down, tense. "Hey, Red Stache. I don't know if he's coming back from this one."
i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i
The earth rumbled under the strong forces of change. Flowers bloomed underneath them. The bricks that had been torn out of the streets were replacing themselves. The castle stood suddenly clean and shimmering, as a banquet began in the surrounding town. Toads filed out of their homes in confused droves, the injured waking from their hospital beds, the dead rising from their graves in perfect health. A gentle breeze swept through, as a perfect cloud covered the sky to leave a just-sunny-enough day. Tippi fluttered and shrieked in joy as Blumiere's eyes flickered to life, cradling her in his cape. The heroes stood in awe; they could only witness the scene around them. Luigi floated in the epicenter of it all, hands up towards infinity.
"Blumiere! Oh, Blumiere, we've done it!" Tippi cried. "We're all going to be safe. Somehow, Luigi's--He's--"
"Timpani...Oh, Timpani." He held his love close the best he could. His voice held a heavy misery. "I love you more than anything."
"Why are you talking like that? We're finally back together, aren't we?"
i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish
The rumble didn't stop. Mountains of toys appeared in front of the local orphanage. People disappeared as fast as missing ones came back. News horns blared that the conflict between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Darklands had been resolved. Bowser looked towards the Princess in confused shock. The weather began to flicker; for short bursts it would rain, or snow, or the sun would disappear out of the sky and the moon would shine upon a beautiful, temporary night. The Void did not shrink.
Blumiere hung his head "He's trying to use the Void to create...he's trying to make a perfect world for everybody, out of everyone's desires."
"How can we stop this? How can we save him?" Peach had a white-knuckle grip on her parasol.
Blumiere didn't respond to her. "The Void is a force of destruction. For it to try and create something...it must require quite a lot of extra force."
"If it's from everyone's desires, why isn't it stopping!? Can't we do anything!?"
"Luigi!" Mario cried from below. "Can you hear me!?"
I just wish I had my brother back.
"Ma...rio?" Luigi croaked, looking down. "Mario? ...Mario? Mario?"
i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish i wish
"Luigi!"
Luigi didn't want to disappoint his brother. His body moved downwards unsteadily. He found himself held again. Mario. Luigi's brother. Mario wants his brother back.
"Mario, I..." Scared of the unknown, but this wasn't unknown. He knew of this power. He was this power. Luigi was loving, and polite. "I love you," he hugged his brother back. Luigi loves his brother very much. Mario wants his brother back. It could give him his brother back.
He could be Luigi. Luigi wanted him to be Luigi. Luigi wanted to grant wishes. It could be Luigi.
As the brothers embraced, the world cracked under its own weight. Luigi closed his eyes as the perfect world he had created was reabsorbed into himself. Everything was destroyed as one. Loved ones were together. Everyone was full, everyone was happy, everyone had their sunny day, their well-lit night. Piece by piece, life by life, scream by scream. A beautiful song, which eventually fell silent. The pressure against Luigi's body was the last thing he felt fade, a different, inert weight draping itself across his shoulders.
When he opened his eyes, everything was gone. A cloak had been draped over his body. His arms still held the shape of his brother. It flexed its arms outward. It would remember that shape forever.
I wish I could grant everyone's wishes.
Was that the taste of just one world? Wasn't it supposed to be consuming all of them? It felt so much...sweeter that it remembered a world tasting. Since when could it remember things? Since when could it taste? Oh, since he was born, of course! Luigi's memory wasn't perfect, but combined with itself, he could feel so many unfamiliar sensations and memories bubbling up inside of it. The Chaos Heart, sealed within the body and memory of Luigi Mario, fell on his knees to the blank slate floor beneath it, and laughed. It was a pleasant laugh. A happy laugh. Luigi's laugh.
If that was just one world, then he had many, many more worlds to visit! Many more wishes to grant! So many more beautiful places to see!
A hunger sparked within him. Where Blumiere had faded, the Dark Prognosticus sat undamaged, waiting for him to retrieve it.
So many more beautiful places that would be even more beautiful, as his home was now.
Luigi gave a bow to his beautiful world, collected his Book of Fortunes, and vanished without a trace.
==Design Notes==
Misfortune usually hides himself in the shadow of his cloak, only slight bits of a familiar silhouette poking out. His cloak is connected with a Star Point-esque pendant, resembling most Merlons. Underneath the cloak, he wears a well-fitted light blue vest over a dark green dress shirt, and deep blue/purple dress pants held up with a belt baring a not-at-all-subtle Dark Prognosticus buckle. He's always wearing a pair of gloves in order to hide his hands, which have stained black fingers from containing the Void (his feet are also like this, though up to his ankles, so he's always wearing longer socks).
He notably wears a hat and more Bros.-esque shoes to keep a sort of Luigi-shaped silhouette, but his hat lacks an emblem, only bearing a small black heart where the bill meets the rest of the hat. Underneath his hat, his cowlick is often stylized to appear more heart-shaped. The inside of Misfortune's mouth is greyer and darker than usual, and while not often drawn with them for stye reasons, he does have teeth that're usually impeccably clean and straight.
== Abilities == 
*Misfortune is a very skilled actor.
*Misfortune harnesses the powers of the Chaos Heart and the Void in order to grant wishes. However, due to the Void being a destructive force, he usually requires some kind of payment for a wish, whether it be something as benign of some of the food you're wishing for, or something as severe as a life. He can also accept more abstract payment, and some noble wishes granted "free of charge" have seen their wishers become depressed, irritable, forgetful, or otherwise withdrawn. Misfortune always, however, takes more than he gives. Even if what he's taking isn't immediately obvious.
**This way of fueling the Void allows it to remain mostly undetected, as it's sealed inside of him and only released once he deems it fit. Occasionally, if he deems it safe enough, he'll let the Void grow naturally in the sky. He finds the panic oddly soothing.
**When the Void builds up enough power, he usually instantly destroys that world, no matter what kinds of connections he's built in it. He sees being consumed by the Void as a beautiful, envious thing, and is honored to be a piece of it.
* Misfortune can tell the future with various methods, due to both his possession of the Dark Prognosticus and his otherworldly nature. He has a keen sixth sense, and what isn't supplied by his prophetic connection is often easy info to get using his manipulative people skills.
** The Dark Prognosticus's pages change their contents depending on what answers he needs from it and what world he's in. A secondary mission of his is finding worthy parties to read the book, in order to drive them towards making rash and destructive wishes, or wishing for the destruction of their world outright. Misfortune considers other Luigis (as Men in Green) the best candidates for this role.
*Misfortune isn't limited in how many worlds he can stick his hands in at once, but the Void is a bit tricky; it's growth rate is different in each world, and thusly it's easier to seal a world's "Void" inside of himself and start a new energy bank of sorts for the new world he's visiting.
*In terms of weaknesses, Misfortune is quite limited in worlds that are created by a reigning, all-powerful ruler; for example, MX and Executable M's domains. In worlds like this, it's difficult to get the initial "foothold" so he can start feasting away at them. Though, in either cases, being asked to grant a powerful wish by a prominent figure (such as Lucas or Survivor Luigi) may grant promising results.
**He's also quite limited by his own nature; Luigi's original wish to grant everyone's wishes left him with a self-imposed requirement to uses wishes (or the previously mentioned Prognosticus option) to tear a world apart.
*He can't feel pain, but his vessel can be damaged. Misfortune has never let his vessel be fully destroyed, and is frightened at the idea of it taking a heavy amount of damage. Thusly, he usually stays out of conflicts, or does his best to escape or diffuse situations before they get dicey.
==Trivia==
* Misfortune's creation (in a meta-sense) started as an alternate universe idea years and years ago, where Luigi was raised separately as a fortune teller in the Beanbean Kingdom and reunited with Mario in Superstar Saga. Here he was notably less evil, and also less half-dead.
**Misfortune's current incarnation was inspired by FAITH by A-One featuring T. Stebbins.
*Since he "is" the Chaos Heart, in a way, his existence in a world skips the requirement for a Peach and Bowser marriage. For example, even in an alternate universe where the events of Super Paper Mario are set to happen, if he's there (or in an accompanying world in the "cluster" that one is related to), he would either be summoned to the wedding or it wouldn't happen in the first place, due to the Dark Prognosticus detecting his presence. 
*Misfortune loves life and lively things. People, plants, animals; he thinks it's beautiful, because Luigi thinks it's beautiful. By consuming them with the Void, these beautiful things are both beautiful forever, and replaced with the unique, tranquil beauty of nothingness. 
* He could easily be considered a religious zealot, and when a world is safely doomed tends to act as such, joyously heralding its destruction while singing praises of the Void. While it's easy to think this would leave his interactions with godly characters prickly, he treats them similarly as he does to everyone else, occasionally even sucking up to their power in order to gain their favor (link related). In the end, though, he does usually visit them a bit less, as there's little use in a world he can't destroy (...for now).
*Misfortune has a tendency to "Monkey's Paw" vague wishes, as you'd expect any wish-granter to do. Though, to boost credibility, he'll sometimes advise people on how to word their wishes to avoid vagueness.
*He has a black hole for a stomach, and is always somewhat hungry, but never starving. He'll eat just about anything, though; good food, bad food, bland food, hair, cardboard...this statement gets a lot better when you realize that as he's part of the Void, he doesn't always eat things with his mouth. He does enjoy it, though, and his favourite food is anything home-cooked (as he can taste the love put into it; literally).
*His "Luigi" is far from perfect; notably, he has a tendency to almost never stop smiling. This is partially because Misfortune is near-unable to feel strong emotions (though the strongest he feels are fear, happiness, and frustration). While not usually outwardly cruel, Misfortune will admit that many of his actions are manipulative, and he doesn't feel bad about any of them.
**Also partially due to this formative wish, he loves meeting new versions of the Mario Bros. in the different worlds he travels to, including Horrorbrews modeled after them. He reacts to every Mario as if he's seeing an old friend for the first time in ages, and tends to greet Luigis with a more natural-looking awkward smile, as to establish that they're one in the same. As another crack in his facade, he especially loves stumbling upon versions of the brothers with issues or distance that he could exploit (for example, finding IHY Luigi before the events detailed in the pasta would've been a jackpot).
*Misfortune is not aware of his existence as a video game character, but he does sometimes liken his existence to being in a story, and figures he probably has some kind of audience watching it. He wouldn't be bothered by this information, as it doesn't change anything about his life or his goals.
==Gallery==
File:Misf beta.png|Misfortune praising Beta's cooking.
File:Misfortune charinspo.png|Misfortune's character inspiration sheet, featuring Kanako Yasaka, Quillboy, Seiga Kaku, Yoshika Miyako, President Tanaka, and Sister Eve.
File:Misf marios1.png|Doodle of Misfortune excited to meet a new set of Mario Bros.
File:Misf marios2.png|Misfortune excited for an opportunity to spread the Prophecy. 
File:Misf brwshrm1.png|Concept for a hypothetical Brewshroom Misfortune. His powers don't work underground, and Coolrash saw it fit to confiscate his Prognosticus, as he was attempting to sell suicidal mania to others trapped there. He's subsequently gone a bit nutty.
File:Misf brwshrm2.png|More hypothetical Brewshroom materials; Misfortune describing the events of getting his "book of fortunes" confiscated. 
Category:Paper Mario
Category:Luigi-based