Hector

## Hector Alexander Goffe

"*And such an incredibly weak soul. Troubled even by its own existence. Twice broken, now mending. Desperately reforging itself. And angry at its own workmanship. In dire search of purpose and fortitude. However, therein dwells supreme selflessness. And a curious strength in weakness. Almost indescribable. How strange, you are.*"
―Rasalased
Hector Goffe is the main character of The Zombie Knight.

## Description

Hector is a 17 year old black Atreyan. He is described as thin, with short black hair and somber brown eyes.

## Personality

He is extremely shy and has difficulty speaking with others, especially girls. His friendship with Garovel has helped somewhat in reducing his social anxiety, but he still has difficulty talking with most people, especially Lynnette, whom he has a crush on.

Hector is not above being snarky however. This is perhaps best displayed when he is with Garovel who he is not afraid to make fun of. He usually only presents this side of himself to Garovel.

Despite this, he is an extremely fearsome combatant who has frequently had a pivotal role in defeating foes much stronger than he is. He cares deeply about the people around him, and fights his hardest when other people are in immediate danger or he has seen his opponent kill before. He is generally motivated much more strongly by others' needs than by his own, to the point that Garovel has occasionally kept him from emotional collapse by telling him to find someone to help.

He is also, surprisingly, a very good liar. Despite having trouble with speaking, he is very good at crafting complex deceptions at a moment's notice and selling them well enough to convince even a highly skeptical mark to believe him.

## History

Due to a combination of social awkwardness and an incident that got two more popular students in trouble, Hector was a social pariah at school. This, combined with the lack of affection his parents showed him, drove him to suicide. He spent several months after resolving to kill himself hoping that someone would dissuade him, during which time Garovel noticed his Aura of Doom and began watching him. When he died, Garovel offered to make him a servant in exchange for promising to try to save innocents who were about to die, and he accepted.

## Power and Abilities

Hector has the power of iron materialization. Although he is less than a year old, he is fairly good at using his power to defeat or inconvenience servants much stronger than himself. as of the current chapter Hector has achieved Emergence at least 6 times, making his overall power on level with a servant of 8 years. This does not include skill as that is currently above and below expectations depending on which area.

Hector has achieved emergence:

 3. Fighting Desmond & Moss
 5. Whilst trying to distract Harper

While Hector is still not particularly powerful compared to much older servants, he often makes up for it with creativity. Through manipulation of position states he has shown the ability to generate complex shapes, branching tunnel mazes, bridges and armor, create small iron flakes to render invisible enemies visible and construct spikes at high speeds off of surfaces, which can then extruded through human tissue. Of which he performed during his fight at Dunehall. After entering the Undercrust, Hector also learned using position states to materialize and de-materialize objects at such speeds that they appear to be moving.

During his time in the Undercrust, Hector was able to upgrade this further with the use of velocity states. He learned to materialize simple shapes in mid-air without needing a surface contact point, and he operated floating platforms by keeping a solid non-moving iron base above a moving iron layer, constantly materialized and de-materialized with velocity. This has led to Hector grasping a rather unheard of and advanced technique, by which building from the top and erasing from the bottom of his creations, Hector can rotate object's around his body at such speeds that he loses concentration. Causing his iron to warp and produce real kinetic energy as it impacts its' target. This would not normally occur had he maintained concentration on the illusion of movement.

Hector has shown no original ideas with temperature states but he is able to create a constant self cooling armor that heats up quite fast whilst in the Undercrust. Furthermore, Hector has demonstrated no skill or practice in the use of pressure states and he is much too young to have any control over Allotropes.

Hectors power also forms a peculiar foil for that of Karkash. By controlling magnetic fields Karkash is able to rip apart Hector's iron and control it. Despite this Hector is able to use irons' magnetic properties to his advantage by growing iron lightning rods to redirect any lightning away from allies.

Hector is a skilled carpenter and blacksmith, being able to make helms and suits of armor. He uses his skill and knowledge in this area to help visualize his materialization, particularly in the creation of armor. It was last mentioned that Hector can materialize a full suit of armor in under 30 seconds. He can also create suits of armor for all shapes and sizes as demonstrated on the Rainlords after their rescue from Leo.

Hector has recently acquired the ability to materialize the Magic Shield, which is a titanium-steel allow reinforced by tungsten carbide. However, the shield can only materialize using his left hand, and he has shown slow progress with materializing iron from that hand since. Hector can now summon the shield in the same manner as his iron. A power given to him by the Dry God Rasalased, for his kind heart and generous gift.

### Tempered Soul

Due to Rasalaseds' unfortunate consumption of a small part of Hector's soul, the Dry God decided to impart Hector with a part of his own soul, along with a separate consciousness than the soul inside the Dry Gods' Shard. This has allowed Hector to withstand the Soul Pressure of servants much stronger than himself, which is often used to intimidate or coerce weaker servants. This does not prevent servants from using their abilities however. Such an instance of Hector being unaffected by Soul Pressure was when confronted by the Salesman of Death, as Hector was able to lie exceptionally well in Ivan's presence.

### Blessing of Focus

Given by The Dry God Rasalased, Hector is able focus all his concentration on what he wants while blocking out any unwanted distractions, even going so far as to completely drown out the sound of his own reapers voice. This has allowed Hector to maintain up to three complex activities at the same time (as long as two of them are purely mental). Currently any more than three different actions at once will cause one to fail.

This blessing also serves as a defense against telepathic attack. When a Wrobel attempted to suppress Hector's consciousness, the attack simply shut down one of Hector's three thought processes, leaving him free to act using the other two.

### Blessing of Domain

Given by The Bored God Malast. This blessing has not yet been fully explained. Only that it will grow over time, much like the blessing of focus, and that it will work quite well alongside Hectors' first blessing. As of the current chapter, Hector seems to have gained the ability to project his aura, labeling him an Aura Warrior by the Beast of Lorent. There are few on Elegs' plane of existence with this ability and veteran users accrue certain effects through use. One such effect is the ability to see the connection between reapers and servants.

Pauline Gaolanet describes Hectors' aura as gentle and warm, reassuring and sturdy, showing the strength of his intent, his will, permeating his aura, draping her, in a metaphysical sense of safety which was difficult to articulate, even to herself. Explaining that when Hector considers those near him as allies, they appear to be blanketed in his aura, protecting them. It has yet to be revealed if enemies smothered by Hectors' aura will suffer certain status effects instead.

Banda Toro, an enemy of Hector, described Hector's aura as "the presence of a courteous demon, threatening him gently yet darkly," a sort of ultimate expression of speaking softly and carrying a big stick. He puts the power of Hector's aura on par with a marshals and even emperors that he's encountered. What really frightened Banda, however, was that he was in Chaos form at the time and therefore infested with damned souls, which as far as he knows are already suffering the ultimate torment and harboring the ultimate malice... and yet, those damned souls also seemed unnerved by Hector's aura, quieting down like rowdy children whose stern father had just arrived.

Aura and soul power are linked but are not the same thing. They do however have profound effects on each other, with an individuals' emotional state, will or soul power reflecting how their aura presents itself. Humans cannot typically sense aura as it is not physically felt, unless a creature of significant aura were to be nearby. A human might then feel slight discomfort like a shiver up their spine. Aura appears to act as a small energy space that follows its' host. Growing stronger or weaker as its' host does.

Hector questions Pauline if this is in fact, just a souls field density. To which Pauline replies that a souls field density is only one aspect of an aura, an aspect that connects a soul and its' aura together. A powerful aura will on most occasions make a soul more resilient. A powerful soul on the other hand will more than likely produce a stronger aura. The closer one individual comes to the nucleus of another aura, the more debilitating effects can occur if said aura is of sufficient strength. Such effects include but are not limited to disorientation, compromised spatial awareness and a skewed perception of the passage of time. Pauline describes aura as if it were a liquid and space-time were a blanket, aura slowly soaks through the blanket. Explaining why aura can affect the perception of time.

## Techniques Mastered or Developed

Hector's tendency to think in strange ways has led him to develop several apparently original techniques. Beyond that, he is quite skilled at materialization.

### Fundamentals

There are currently three known basic skills that are specific to materialization and transfiguration users. These skills are known as the manipulation of velocity states, temperature states and pressure states. A fourth has also been revealed as that of 'position states' but this is an inherent skill all materialization users have to some degree, even with an infantile level of spatial awareness.

1. Velocity States: Hector is currently able use velocity states with advanced control. Much of his fighting style and original techniques currently use velocity states in some way. Specific techniques are detailed below
2. Temperature States: Hector has shown no original ideas with temperature states but his control has grown enogh to enable the creation of a constant self cooling armor that heats up quite fast whilst in the Undercrust. Furthermore with enough concentration, he can generate enough heat to create molten iron, with which he fills each orbiting box and launches at unsuspecting enemies.
3. Pressure States: Lastly Hector has demonstrated no skill or practice in the use of pressure states and he is much too young to have any control over advanced skills such as physical states (allotropes) or reactive states.

### Binding

Practicing and internalizing a technique to the point that it becomes automatic by linking the complex process's required to a physical stimuli i.e. blinking eyelid, hand signal.

Hector has shown great use of this ability in his fight with Zeff. By bawling his hand into a fist, Hector instantly propels spikes of iron from a surface, allowing him to focus concentration on maintaining growth and homing in on Zeff to cause wide spread penetration from all angles.

Through use of mapping/binding, Hector has also been shown to orbit iron around him in his mind, loading them in his imagination, he then extends his index finger and thumb in the shape of a pistol, propelling an iron object at his target with all the kinetic force of the orbiting technique and non of the build up that would otherwise give away his intentions to the enemy.

### 'Constantly Falling' Hovering

Thus far, we know of two ways to make materialized matter hover. The first is relatively easy, as it is simply an illusion of hovering. By creating a shape (e.g. a cube, as Hector frequently uses) and letting it fall, one can annihilate matter on the bottom of the cube while materializing more on the top to maintain the shape and position, creating the illusion of a hovering object. Very easy to learn, this technique has some crucial flaws, mainly that since the matter is constantly falling it can't actually support anything solid (though a liquid can be supported, as the newly materialized iron displaces the liquid, forcing it upwards). Oddly, Hector describes the materialization as being 'accelerative'. This suggests he needs to materialize/annihilate at an ever greater rate because the cube is falling faster every second. While this could be possible if the bottom was annihilated quickly enough that the cube never experienced air resistance, it seems unlikely, as surely *someone* would have noticed if this technique created speeds approaching infinity. More likely, he meant that he has to accelerate his materialization initially, until it reaches equilibrium at a speed near terminal velocity.

### 'Supported' Hovering

As Zeff teaches Hector on page 1257, while gravity is constant and velocity can only be added at the creation of a material, one can overcome this and make things hover by adding new layers to the bottom, each with more velocity than the last to counteract the ever growing weight of the mass. Note: while Zeff says this technique requires ever higher velocity in the layers being added, presumably this is only if one doesn't annihilate layers on the top, resulting in an ever-growing shape. If the top layer is annihilated as a new layer is added the shape should reach equilibrium.

### Orbiting

The first technique invented by Hector, on pages 1342-1343. Wanting to practice Binding, Hector began experimenting with hovering, seeing if he could create an illusion of movement as well as the illusion of hovering. After some initial mishaps (see Rail-Gun below), he was able to perfect the technique of annihilating and materializing the edges of a hovering cube so it appeared to be moving. Successfully binding the technique so it didn't require conscious thought, he was even able to set the frame of reference on himself so the orbiting cube would 'move' to keep up with him and maintain a steady (appearance of) orbit around him, at any distance, 'speed', or height he desired. As with the 'constantly falling' technique above, these orbiting masses cannot support weight because they are constantly falling. Similarly, they can't exert force because the iron has no actual sideways momentum; upon reaching a barrier the materialization will simply stop, unable to displace a solid. However, Hector is strong enough to displace liquid with his materialization, and was able to put this to good use in the fight with the worm, containing the sludge in orbiting boxes capable of moving it around with him.

### Rail-Gun

An incredibly powerful technique that began as a mistake. Trying to develop orbiting and bind it, Hector subconsciously tried to materialize the sides of the cube at an 'accelerative' rate, as if it were being pulled in the opposite direction by gravity (see 'constantly falling' technique above). However, with out an equal opposing force, the cube accelerated in the orbit until it moved fast enough it couldn't be kept track of or controlled, at which point something interesting happened. The materialization continued, but no longer in the correct place or shape, causing the cube's shape to distort and the new materializing material to *push* the existing iron, giving it velocity both very real and very fast as it continues to accelerate. After just a few seconds the iron is going fast enough that control is completely lost, and the now distorted lump of iron is flung out of orbit as if by a rail-gun (hence the name). With the help of emergence, Hector was able to use the rail-gun technique to kill a house-sized worm in a duel. Rather than conscious or automatic control, this technique is more about "losing control" at the correct time. Based on the shock it has been met with, Hector is likely the first to discover this technique, or at least the first to show it to others and leave survivors.

Asad thinks that the rail-gun technique is impossible under current theories of ability use. Since the technique is theoretically based purely on position states, it should have no ability to generate real impact forces, let alone the explosive results Hector has achieved. Conventional wisdom also stresses that no good can come of losing control of a technique, yet the rail-gun's power is unleashed by doing just that.

### Cooling Variant Armor

After the do-or-die lesson in materializing at temperature mentioned above, Hector began making his own temperature-control armor rather than needing to rely on Zeff. To prevent explosions from the shock of freezing iron meeting the thousand degree air of the Undercrust, the armor is made in layers, with cold against his skin and warmer layers on the outside. Constantly materializing and dematerializing the layers to maintain equilibrium is a technique Hector has bound.

### Flying Platform

After being teleported to Atreya, Hector needed a fast way to transport the Rainlords and Co. to Warrenhold. What he came up with was a hovering platform that could fly over trees and cars without difficulty. The top layer of the platform remains constant in shape (not being annihilated or added to) so people can stand on it, which is possible because of a hovering layer below this main platform, which pushes the main platform to keep it aloft and steer it. Bizarrely, Hector says this hovering 'holster' uses the 'constantly falling' technique to hover. This odd because this technique should leave all the iron in the layer falling at near terminal velocity, meaning to push against it and provide lift Hector would have to materialize the contact point(s) even faster than that, which still wouldn't create much force. It seems more likely that he is rapidly materializing and annihilating the lower layer with upward velocity, pushing upwards on the top layer almost constantly to create a relatively smooth ride (the 'supported' hovering above). (We'll likely have to wait for a more in-depth explanation to clear things up here). It is equally easy for Hector to go up or down, but at high altitudes the wind becomes a problem, and going down is more nerve-wracking for him. This technique seems to require far more concentration from Hector than any of the others, to the point that Diego walking around and slightly changing the balance was enough to screw Hector up.

## Possessions

### Magic Shield

*Main article: Magic Shield*

After a meeting with Haqq Najir, who was extremely rude to Hector and Garovel, Haqq's reaper Sazandara knocked Haqq unconscious and gave Hector a shield made by Haqq as an apology. She said that if Hector touched the shield with bare skin, he would gain passive soul defense equal to that of Abbas Saqqaf, at the cost of quickly tiring Garovel. As Hectors' natural soul power increased he would be able to safely use the shield for longer periods of time. Hector's shield is very strong and capable of withstanding attacks from Melchor, Dimas and Asad. Only suffering damage at the hands of Zeff and his ultimate technique, a water pressured explosion.

### Warrenhold

*Main article: Warrenhold*

After the recapture of the city of Sescoria and Queen Helen's announcement clearing Hector's name, she made him a lord and offered him control of a castle. A similar offer was made to Roman, who turned her down because official acknowledgement would ruin his illegal connections. On advice from Voreese, Hector requested the castle Warrenhold, with a promise that Voreese would come to explain what was special about it.

The castle was created by a previous servant of voreese named Stasya Orlov and the structural center sections can regenerate. Built-in pest control makes everyone except servants feel uneasy but the effect can be countered through further understanding. In one of the lower towers, there is a deep pit that leads all the way down to the Undercrust.

Lastly there is a maze of cavern like tunnels connected to the underground river within Warrenhold. These tunnels stretch across all of Atreya, supplying Hector and co with many secret passages for avoiding attention.

### Shard of The Dry God

One of the last remaining shards that contain the Dry God Rasalased. Through unknown methods, users may use the shards to contact Rasalased or any holder of another piece of the shard. Only holders who have met the Dry God may communicate this way as it requires the Dry God to consume a part of their soul and temper it. Such as Hector and Emiliana.

### Scarf of Amordiin

Once owned by the long dead king of Vantalay. The Scarf of Amordiin is a dark black color, being one of two items, alongside the Mask of Amordiin. The scarf, when in direct contact with a wearer, allows them to sense air currents within a certain range and consequently the objects obstructing the air currents. However the scarf cannot impart the temperature or texture of what it senses. The scarf has a very slow regenerative capability.

## Relationships

### Garovel

Garovel is Hector's reaper and his best friend. He is an extremely important person in Hector's life and not just because he is Hector link to life. Garovel helped break Hector out of his shell and finally make friends. Garovel cares about Hector a lot and is very patient with him. He rarely gets angry about his shyness, accepting it as a part of him, and instead tries to help him gently without forcing him.

Hector believes Garovel to be very wise. He always considers his advice and never just disregards him. Hector is also very comfortable with Garovel confiding in him with his secret and fears. He is also displays a joking nature with Garovel that he rarely displays with others.

### Vanessa Goffe

Vanessa Goffe is Hector's mother. She never showed Hector much attention - which contributed to Hector committing suicide at the age of 16. She later admitted that she had never loved Hector and always viewed him as a burden. She wanted to put Hector up for adoption but was stopped by Hector's father who was worried about how it would impact their reputation. She blames Hector for his father's death. However, Vanessa doesn't have any friends or family and with her husband dead Hector is the only significant relationship that she has.

Hector is aware of all of the above and still loves his mother - even though he has admitted that she is a terrible mother. He is determined to protect her, though they don't talk often.

### Geoffrey

Geoffrey is perhaps Hector's greatest enemy. He has caused Hector an immense amount of pain both physically and emotionally. Geoffrey considered himself and Hector to be arch-enemies. He repeatedly displayed interest in Hector as his rival and enemy. He originally wanted to keep fighting Hector for a very long time but knew that his grandfather would not approve. Geoffrey knew his grandfather would likely have wanted Hector dead and decided that if Hector was going to die it was going to be by his hand.

Hector however hates Geoffrey more than anyone in the world. Geoffrey murdered Hector's friends and father. It is because of Geoffrey that his mother began to despise him and it was because of Geoffrey that he became a wanted felon. Geoffrey is still an open wound for Hector even months after his death. His actions have impacted Hector to this very day.

### Colt

Colt is Hector's enemy turned ally. Although originally Hector hated Colt for killing Melissa, he eventually grew to not completely despise him after learning his motivations and more of his personality. However Hector still shows a certain apprehension about Colt. He has not forgotten that Colt murdered people even if he had a reason for it.

Colt respects Hector a lot. It was because of Hector that he was able to get his kids back and live a normal life with them. Colt was shown to be regretful when he yelled at Hector causing him to fall back in to old habits and just clam up. This shows Colt does care about Hector. He also displays worry when Hector continuously went out every night to fight crime without giving himself much time to rest.

### Roman Fullister

Roman is one of Hector's only friends and strongest allies Roman is the billionaire head of a thieving empire. A loyal Atreyan and a fellow servant Roman meets Hector when they both arrive at the capital and fight against Abolish together.

Roman helped Hector hide from the police after his fathers' death.

### Sai-hee

While they haven't met or had any direct meetings it's likely that Sai-hee would be slightly antagonistic towards Hector due to him sheltering the Rainlords.

## Trivia

* Hectors' last name is pronounced Goff rather than Goff-ee that most readers believe it to be. However Frost has stated that either pronunciation is acceptable, despite preferring the former himself.
* Hector sees reapers as skeletons, their bones emanate white from behind a shroud of the pitchest black he has ever seen, they also seem to carrying scythes.