Heibai Wuchang

Heibai Wuchang are the Gods of Death from Chinese mythology, tasked with escorting the shades of the dead down to the Chinese Underworld. The White Guard is named Xie Bi'an while the Black Guard is Fan Wujiu.
==Overview==
Heibai Wuchang (黑白無常), or Hak Bak Mo Seong, literally Black and White Impermanence, are two Deities in Chinese folk religion in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to the underworld. As their names suggest, they are dressed in black and white respectively.
They are subordinates of Yanluo Wang, the Supreme Judge of the Underworld in Chinese mythology, alongside the Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Hell Guards. They are worshiped as fortune deities and are also worshiped in Cheng Huang Temples in some countries.
In some instances, the Heibai Wuchang are represented as a single being known as the Wuchang Gui (無常鬼), literally "Ghost of Impermanence". Depending on the person it encounters, Wuchang Gui can appear as either a fortune deity who rewards the person for good deeds or a malevolent deity who punishes evil people.
==Appearance==
===Xie Bi'an===
Xie Bi'an has porcelain skin and a very slender build. He has slicked back undercut white hair with a streak of crimson, and his eyes are the same color as well. He wears a white tuxedo vest with a red tie, a white long-sleeved shirt underneath, and dress pants. A monocle sits on his left eye and a wrist watch is tied to his left wrist.
He has several sentences tattooed on his body in Chinese, such as "You Have Come Too" down his spine, "Becoming Rich Upon Encountering Me" over his left forearm, and "Become Lucky Upon Encountering Me" over his right. He is noted to be taller than Fan Wujiu by a couple of centimeters.
===Fan Wujiu===
Fan Wujiu's figure is similar to Xie Bi'an's, though his skin is slightly more tanned and his body is somewhat more muscular. He has the same hairstyle as Xie Bi'an, but in black with a white streak, while his eyes are a freezing blue. He wears a black tuxedo vest with a blue tie, a blue long-sleeved shirt underneath, and dress pants. A monocle sits on his right eye and a wrist watch is tied to his right wrist.
Similar to Xie Bi'an, he also has several sentences tattooed on his body in Chinese, such as "Peace to the World" over his throat, "Arresting You Right Now" over his chest, "Making a Clear Distinction Between Good and Evil" over his left forearm, and "Rewarding the Good and Punishing the Evil" over his right.
==Personality==
Heibai Wuchang are two faithful and dutiful governors who always strive to achieve and maintain civil order within Diyu. They take their duties as psychopomps very seriously and don't judge the shades they guard of their past choices and former life. As such, they can be easily annoyed whenever they see other psychopomps not reaching their standard of professionalism.
According to Yanluo Wang, they were "trouble-makers" who loved to disobey his commands. While this wasn't the truth, it did have its basis in reality, as they were secret agents tasked with the duty of collecting information about their king's involvement with the Alliance of Hell. It's also revealed that the "messes" they created were ways to prevent the Alliance from gaining more influence in Youdu.
They are very close and extremely protective of each other, though those with keen eyes may pick up the romantic and sexual inuendos in their interactions with each other. Later on, it's revealed that they have been in a sexually and romantically relationship with each other for over a thousand years.
However, due to the more conservative nature of the eastern gods, unlike the western gods, they are forced to hide their secret affair from the mortal world, though in Diyu and the neighboring underworlds, it has become more-or-less an open secret.
===Xie Bi'an===
At first glance, Xie Bi'an is much friendlier and more charismatic compared to his brother, which combined with his good looks, makes him greatly admired among the monsters, shades, and chthonic gods in the Chinese Underworld. He is polite and well-mannered, with an interest in classical literature of various cultures, not just in Asian countries, and has an in-depth knowledge about the philosophies of different religions.
Despite this, however, his true personality is that of an arrogant, mischievous, and prideful "brat", who has little reason to care about anything outside of his interests. While being the rewarder of good deeds and punisher of the bad, he doesn't believe in "good" or "bad" as opposite points on a spectrum, but rather different shades of gray depending on whoever's looking at it. As such, he occasionally rewards seemingly bad people with good fortune while those with a good reputation with curses and misfortune, much to the confusion of many.
He is a believer in the philosophy of "End justifies the Means" and is willing to sacrifice anyone and anything but his own life and Fan Wujiu's if it means maintaining balance and order in the Realm of the Dead. This doesn't mean he is completely without any sense of morals, however, as he did admit to feeling guilty about sacrificing the innocents for the greater good.
===Fan Wujiu===
Compared to his twin, Fan Wujiu is colder, more disciplined, and much more stern, with little tolerance for mistakes. In addition, while Xian Bi'an is a natural schemer, he is a natural follower, and will not break the rules unless his twin convinces him to do so, and even then, would only do so begrudgingly. However, according to Zhong Kui, no one's really sure what rules Fan Wujin's following - The ancient laws, the rules of the Underworld, the rules of the Celestial Bureaucracy, or whatever rules that Xian Bi'an made up.
Prior to his "disappearance", he was known for being Yanluo Wang's chief executioner, responsible for hunting down traitors, enemies, and criminals who went against his commands, though those truly close to him could notice how increasingly annoyed he became with every mission. After he was released, however, his displeasure at Yanluo Wang isn't even hidden as he looked at the King of Youdu with murderous eyes.
Despite this, he does have a more relaxed side to him, as shown with his liking of adorable things, such as small dogs, little rabbits, or his "dìdi", and his secret sweet tooth. He also has a talent for housework, though he claimed this is because of Xie Bi'an's slothful living style, and great cooking skills, which is born from Xie Bi'an's complaints of how the cooks' food never matches his taste.
He is extremely protective and possessive of Xie Bi'an, and even directly expressed his desire to "lock [Xie Bi'an] up and hide [Xie Bi'an] away so [Fan Wujin and Xie Bi'an] could papapa all days", much to person in question's horror. Following his release in the modern centuries, through the use of the internet, he has revealed himself to be a closeted pervert upon his discovery of kinks, which Xie Bi'an stated to be his "worst nightmare comes true".
==History==
===Early Years===
Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu were minor gods created by the original Ghost of Impermanence, Wuchang Gui, shortly after the Great Flood of Gun-Yu, when the population of ancient China had grown beyond his control and he'd desperately required additional support to do his duties proficiently. When Yanluo Wang suggested he should take either one of the reapers or the chthonic gods as his apprentices, he scorned and said that he didn't trust any of them enough to do this job like how he wanted it to be, and thus, decided to create his own supports.
Through arcane magic, he created Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu, Heibai Wuchang, who he considered to be his own sons and had them help him with the gathering and heralding of shades into Diyu for judgment and sentencing. However, as time went on, their popularity and worship began to dwarf his own - Largely due to their more charming and righteous nature compared to Wuchang Gui - leading to him growing to hate his own creations.
Soon, due to a lack of worship from mortal devotees, Wuchang Gui became severely weakened and was eventually killed by daemon while heralding shades, thus passing down the position of Diyu's psychopomps to his creations. According to Meng Po, his death was a great loss for Diyu, but "no one really gave a shit 'bout him" so not many people were truly mournful, not even his sons, who were too busy with the tasks delegated from him, in addition to the new duties their promoted position given them.
====Secret Affair====
More information regarding their early years are later revealed by Xian Bi'an, one of which was the origins of their incestuous relationship. According to him, the two of them had always felt a connection far deeper than just friendship and brotherhood, for they had come into the world together and their soul was "one and the same". Upon arrival on the mortal world, they began to observe mankind and learned from the living and the dead the arts of love-making, and together, they would experiment in corners of their mansion, away from their father's eyes.
However, one day, when they had decided to take it to the next level with Xian Bi'an letting Fan Wujin penetrate him for the first time, they were so caught up in carnal pleasure that they were unable to sense Wuchang Gui's presence. While Xian Bi'an stopped his tale at this point, it was heavily implied by his tone that Wuchang Gui's death was not a simple accident, but he was killed by Heibai Wuchang so their affair couldn't be stopped.
===Merchant's Daughter===
One day, Xie Bi'an was on patrol when he saw a woman and two children crying before a grave. Curious, he came by and asked what happened, only to find out she was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, though due to her smallpox-scarred face, no man would want to marry her and she was tricked into marrying her father's servant.
While at first, her husband was a kind person, only after marrying him did he show his true colors as a neglectful and abusive man who abandoned her and the two children they had together to spend his time indulging in sensual pleasure. Heartbroken by his daughter's misery and frustrated by his own ignorance, the merchant soon died and all of his fortune was passed down to his son-in-law.
Angered by such mistreatment, Xie Bi'an decided to help the woman. When she returned home, she met a debt collector who came to collect her husband's gambling debt, though when he discovered there was no one there but her there, he tried to force himself on her but failed, and the woman was able to lock herself inside her room. Despairing by her misfortune, she tried to hang herself, but before she could do so, she was rescued by Xie Bi'an, who told her to run far away with her children.
With Xie Bi'an's help, the three of them were able to escape to a town far away, and the moment they left, the house and the four shops passed down to her husband by her father suddenly caught fire and burned down. By the time the husband found out about the fire, all of his inherited fortune had already been destroyed. Thinking it was his wife's fault, he tried to find and get her revenge, but before he could leave, in a graphic display of power and violence, Xie Bi'an appeared in a column of darkness and dragged the man's soul down to Diyu.
===Alliance of Hell===
When rumors about the Alliance of Hell began to appear, Heibai Wuchang were scouted by Izanami to act as spies against Yanluo Wang, acting as informants and recorded all of their king's suspicious behaviors that might be involved with the Alliance of Hell in one way or another. While the two of them were not particularly loyal to Yanluo Wang as many believed, they did care about maintaining the civil order within the Underworld and the Realm of the Dead as a whole, which led them to agree with Izanami's plans.
However, during the Cultural Revolution in China, their status as spies were discovered by Baigujing, Yanluo Wang's mistress, and the two of them were sealed into a pair of demonic swords forged by the legendary faeries, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. The swords, fittingly named Heibai Wuchang, were then given to Baigujing to be used as her personal weapons.
==Abilities==
TBA
==Equipment==
Death Scythes: Both Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu possessed their own death scythes, with the former's being made of silver and decorated with rubies while the latter's was made of darkened steel and decorated with sapphires. When they were sealed within Heibai Wuchang, their scythes were destroyed and made into the Chains of Impermanence.
==Trivia==
*Xie Bi'an (谢必安) means "thankful" (谢) “certain" (必) "peace" (安).
**His name means "Those who make amends will always be at peace".
*Fan (范) is a species of aquatic insect, Wu (无) means "without" and Jiu (咎) means "blame".
**His name means "Those who commit crimes will have no salvation".
*The sentences tattooed on their bodies were once the words on their hats and signs they carried.
*Statues of them often depicted them with ferocious snarls and long red tongues sticking out of their mouths to scare away evil spirits.
*In some countries, they are worshipped in Cheng Huang Temples.
*In some myths, instead of being natural-born gods, they were once humans who performed good deeds and were granted immortality after their death as a reward from the Jade Emperor himself.
**In one version, the two were military officers who were both tasked with escorting a convict, though the convict later escaped and the two promised to meet each other under a bridge at a certain time. However, due to a sudden storm, Xie Bi'an was unable to reach the bridge on time while Fan Wujiu drowned in the flood. Sadden by his friend's death, Xie Bi'an committed suicide by hanging himself. Deeply impressed by their friendship, the Jade Emperor appointed them as "Guardians of the Underworld".
**In another version, the two have contrast lives to each other while they were alive, only sharing a common position as guardians of the Underworld:
***Fan Wujiu was once a scoundrel who spent his life gambling their family's fortune away and was killed by his father in a feat of rage, only to be damned to Diyu after death. During his time in the Underworld, after enduring his due punishment, he repented and atoned for his sins through many good deeds, which impressed the gods enough to make him the Black Guard.
***Xie Bi'an was born into a wealthy family and was known for his kindness. One time. he was given a large sum of money by his father to do an errand, but accidentally used them on the way to help a poor family in need. When he realised his mistake, he felt ashamed to return home to face his parents so he committed suicide. After his death, the gods considered his good deeds and appointed him as the White Guard.
****Xie Bi'an detests this version in particular since it makes him appear as a "weak and pathetic little bitch".
*While they are traditionally portrayed in a black-and-white color scheme to symbolize Yin and Yang, as well as Day and Night, they switched their color scheme into blue-black and red-white to "better modernize themselves".
*Due to them being created and not born, their relationship were not as incestuous as it originally appeared due to them not sharing actual bloodline. According to Izanami, it was like adopted siblings or step-siblings falling in love and marrying each other, which - while it's perfectly legal - still feel awfully wrong for everyone else.
Category:Characters
Category:Male Characters
Category:Deities
Category:Minor Deities
Category:Chthonic Deities
Category:Chinese Deities
Category:Chinese Pantheon
Category:Chinese Mythology
Category:Mythological Figures
Category:Death Deities
Category:Retribution Deities
Category:Punishment Deities
Category:Justice Deities
Category:Fortune Deities
Category:Duality Deities
Category:Psychopomps
Category:Divine Twins
Category:Celestial Bureaucracy
Category:Chinese Underworld
Category:Realm of the Dead
Category:Alliance of Hell
Category:Khaos Brigade