The Night Detective

The Night Detective is a major protagonist in the Tales of Outcast webcomics by Brandon Santiago, being an overarching protagonist in the Erma webcomics and its prequel spin-off Spirit's Bloom. He is an enigmatic detective dedicated to protecting humanity from all supernatural evils, ranging from vampires to eldritch abominations. One supernatural being he has particular interest in is Erma thanks to her incredible power.
== Appearance ==
The Night Detective is an elderly caucasian man with light blue eyes. He is bald with a white beard and moustache. He wears a brown trench coat, a black tie, waistcoat, pants and shoes as well as a white shirt.
== Personality ==
As a protector of humanity, the Night Detective is very dedicated to his job and willing to take down any violent supernatural beings without question. As such he tends to be rather violent and unfeeling in his line of work, brutally massacring a conspiring group of demons and gods even as they beg for mercy. As noted by a shadow entity, these tendencies and the Night Detective's brutal efficiency make him feared throughout circles of the supernatural. The Night Detective also despises arrogance. When encountering powerful foes who present themselves as superior to humanity, he often chastises them for boldly assuming they can best humans, often taking them down with ease as he ridicules their pride.
Despite this apparent cold-bloodedness, the Night Detective is by no means heartless as when not dealing with supernatural evil, he is rather kind and polite. A person he has a notable soft spot for is his wife Zuri, who he took out on dates long ago. This dedication to her is so great that after one of his enemies killed her, the Night Detective forged a pact with a mysterious entity to ensure that in exchange for him never passing on, Zuri would remain forever safe in the afterlife at her favourite place in the world: the carousel where the two first dated. This pact would also allow the Detective's children to be safe from the supernatural in the afterlife, showing that he is at heart also a family man.
The Night Detective also has no problems working with supernatural beings that show no malice towards humanity. He has been shown to partner with the manifestation of magic Jaenelle, using her help to forge a contract with the unknown shadow entity, who itself also seems amiable and willing to help humanity at a price. Despite her catastrophic powers, the Night Detective also shows no particular ill will to Erma, and instead keeps tabs on the young hanyo to make sure no higher evils can get a hold on her. This is also shown during the Christmas special when he opens a portal for Erma to teleport to the North Pole and meet Santa.
== Biography ==
=== Background ===
Much is unknown about the Night Detective's past, but it is known in his youth he'd spend time with his uncle in the summer, frolicking in the woods at his cabin and watching movies. At some point the Detective would become a private investigator, and while he wasn't well liked by his friends he'd meet the love of his life Zuri and they'd start dating, eventually getting married. For unknown reasons the Detective would begin to dapple in the supernatural and thus began a new career as a paranormal investigator, making numerous powerful enemies along the way.
=== Erma and Tales of Outcast ===
==== The Nightmare King ====
The Night Detective catches wind of a group of teenagers trying to summon a powerful demon and thus heads into the forest to stop them. As they chant the ritual chant, he observes them until their master is unleashed: the Detective's foe and a powerful demon, the Nightmare King. The Nightmare King sics his followers on the Detective, and when they're swiftly defeated he remarks that he's still a mean old sob. As the Detective chants a spell, he remarks that it's useless since he's free to dominate the world but the Detective soon tells him that while his acolytes were chanting the spell, he too set up a barrier, trapping the Nightmare King in a tiny circle of 50 yards for the next 1 million years. The Detective mockingly asks the King to enjoy his "kingdom", and later on buys the land and sets up walls to prevent any from releasing him. 
==== The Manananggal Case ====
In this issue, the Night Detective recounts his dealings with a manananggal.
On the 3rd of November, the Detective was called to a friend's morgue to investigate a man's murder. While the man had no injuries except for some bruising at the mouth, it was noted that his heart, tongue, liver and stomach were all removed. After some investigation, the Detective finds records of 10 similar recent murders, with the 3 women involved being pregnant and having their fetuses additionally removed. After realising one of the tissue samples burnt in UV, the Night Detective figures out the murderer to be none other than a manananggal: a Filipino vampire that splits itself in two at night, sucking out the entrails and fetuses of unfortunate victims.
The Detective tracks down the vampire using the bags each victim owned, finding her out to be the attractive owner of a bakery. Thus, the Detective bides his time til night and while the mannangal is out hunting, he finds her lower half, seals it with salt, ash and garlic before performing various other rituals to kill off the unholy beast. Sure enough, the Detective finds the mannanangal's upper half writhing about the next morning before she dissipates in the sunlight.
==== Lake Lanier ====
After a recent string of drownings at Lake Lanier, the Night Detective goes off to investigate, asking for eyewitness accounts and suspicions on what could've happened. Later on at night as the Detective draws a sigil at the lakeside, a mysterious man approaches him. The man recounts how the lake used to be an African-American town called Oscarville, but after its residents were falsely accused of a crime, they were forced out of the town, with the many who stayed drowning when the town was flooded to build a lake. The man reveals himself as a spirit of one of the residents, with the rest of the restless ghosts rising out of the water. While the spirits have been drowning swimmers in an attempt to defend their home, the Detective empathises with their plight and utters a small spell, allowing the residents of Oscarville to ascend to the afterlife. As he leaves the mortal world, the man silently thanks the Detective before he and the rest of the residents finally pass on.
==== Christmas Special: Part 3 ====
The Night Detective makes a minor appearance opening the well portal Erma uses to reach Santa Claus and get a toy sword for her friend. It's implied that he intentionally opened it for the little girl to use.
==== Deals in the Dark ====
One day, the Night Detective arrives at a mysterious house in the Black Forest, Germany owned by the being Jaenelle, who along with her twin sister Gweiyon are the physical manifestations of magic. He asks her if she's done preparing his ritual, to which Jaenelle tells him it is, but warns him that the entity he seeks could corrupt him via any darkness he has. The Detective assures Jaenelle that the only darkness he has is his pain, and thus enters the house where the ritual circle is prepared. The Detective strips to his underwear and begins a lengthy period of meditation, requesting an audience with a mysterious entity he describes as "the son of the first mortal woman". The shadow entity greets the Detective, remarking that many gods and demons fear him and anticipate where his allegiance stands, to which he says that he cares not for what others think of him. The Detective presents his request: in return for dealing with his and the entity's common enemies, he requests safety for a group of other peoples' souls in the afterlife, and that he be permitted to visit them. The entity agrees, but in order to allow him passage, the Detective is branded agonisingly with a mark. With the ritual done, the Detective finally exits the house after possibly months of meditation and makes his way back home. 
==== Lost Love and Carousel ====
It's revealed that the Detective's wife, Zuri has recently passed away and thus, he and his family attend her funeral. Later on after the guests leave, the Detective mourns by the coffin side and is greeted by Principal Phibes. He recounts that Zuri was a kindly and good woman and offers his aid to the Detective in this time of need. As the Detective recites a spell, Phibes tells him that they will need him soon for the battle against the supernatural and that he's not a monster, to which the Detective responds he is one as only monsters can fight other monsters.
Later on, the Detective visits Zuri in the afterlife, where he reveals that she was killed by enemies of his and thus he's on a quest of vengeance. Fortunately thanks to the deal he made, she and her children will be safe forever when they pass on, with the Detective allowed to visit despite never passing on. They arrive at the carousel where they first dated, which the Detective recounts Zuri saying being the one place she'd stay forever at. Zuri is thankful for this deal but asks that since the Detective can't join her eternally, he can spend as much time with her now as possible which he agrees to.
==== Humans, Gods and Monsters ====
As part of his contract, the Night Detective goes off to slay the 5th order: a group of powerful supernatural evils who plan on attacking humanity and regaining their former glory. The Detective telepathically chastises them for believing themselves untouchable from humanity and flaunting their power as they please, so the Detective emerges from a portal and swiftly decapitates an ogre chief, casting a light spell as well. The monsters try to fight back, but the Detective proves himself too powerful as he effortlessly wields various tools to neutralise them. Seeing their case as hopeless, some of the monsters try to beg for mercy, but the Detective ignores their pleas. 
The Detective reaches the last surviving member of the 5th order: a vampire. He comments on how the order saw humans as "ants beneath the feet of giants", and rebukes the vampire, claiming that "only fools think themselves more powerful than ants" before incinerating them using a miniature sun. The shadow entity arrives, congratulating the Detective on a job well done before declaring their contract sealed.
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