Despair Rider

The Despair Rider is a title carried by multiple individuals throughout history. The curse was first created by Gohdumsin and was since then passed along. The final Despair Rider nearly disrupted the Sea of Time but was ultimately destroyed when his cursed magic was nullified.

## Appearance

The Despair Rider is a black entity, with his body being made from a void-like material. He had glowing red eyes and is somewhat thin. He's lacking both of his forearms and sports bone-like black and red wings. Additionally, he wears armor around his upper torso and head while having maroon rags around his legs.

## Brief History

The Despair Riders have been around for an eternity after they were created by Gohdumsin. The original rider was killed and subsequently passed his curse and powers to his killer. This process was repeated for a long time until it reached the present Despair Rider.

This individual protected Dimiourgia's Conception in the Element Dimension along with the rest of the riders. He was later among the riders tasked with disposing of the Dragon Lord, giving the lord a sense of hopelessness.

Along with the rest of the Martyr Ten, Despair was ready to disrupt the Sea of Time on Gohdumsin's command. However, the Heralds of Retha's Eljenai Alminak used his temporary cursed magic nullification to counter the Despair Rider curse, permanently destroying this rider.

## Abilities

As part of the Martyr Ten, the Despair Rider's curse permanently imbues him with despair-related abilities for as long as Gohdumsin lives. These abilities are powerful but come at the cost of eternal despair and his free will.

* **Aarakocra Physiology-** Despair can use his aarakocra body to his advantage, despite it having deteriorated overtime.
	+ **Peck-** The beak on the mask of the rider is used to stab his victim's neck, causing minor damage and bleeding. This attack is swift and accurate.
	+ **Limited Flight-** The Despair Riders are all capable of varying degrees of flight depending on the individual. This helps them move around the vertical plane but the current Despair Rider's flight is not as fast or reliable as the Fury Rider's.
	+ **Wing Swipe-** The rider uses his wings to slash his opponents in a radius around him, causing minor damage.
* **Despair Magic-** This type of magic is unique to the Despair Riders. As one of Gohdumsin's ten favorite emotions, it gives its riders the power to harness the emotion and use it offensively in a variety of ways. Despair is one of the riders focused on de-buffs as opposed to actual fighting.
	+ **Frame Bind-** By using the skeleton-like wings on his back, the rider will pierce it's victim with every single spike, immobilizing it's prey. If the victim succumbs to hopelessness, they become inflicted with despair-based debuffs. They will move slower and attack less frequently.
	+ **Despair Gasp-** When the Despair Rider looks into an opponent, he will let out a dry, dead and slow gasp which will slowly start affecting the enemy. Over time, said enemy loses speed, attacks with less frequency, and has their stats decreased.
	+ **Despair Feathers-** The rider will begin to drop "phantom feathers" from his skeleton-like wings. These feathers are invisible to the naked eye and will passively entrap anyone in a large radius and make them feel anguish and despair, causing debuffs.
	+ **Despair Rest-** By giving himself up and resting on the ground like a corpse, the rider will emanate a passive aura of despair which encompasses a large area. This will exponentially affect the sanity of anyone around him until it causes a complete mental breakdown. This ability is magnified with other "aura" moves from other riders.
	+ **Despair Possess-** Despair begins to infiltrate the mind of it's victim. The enemy doesn't lose control of their body but they will feeling intense emotions of despair, making them vulnerable to attacks and making them prone to horrible decisions.
* **Power Transfer-** If this rider were ever to be killed, its killer would unwillingly inherit the mantle and powers of the Despair Rider.

## Weaknesses

* **Despair Curse-** This rider's powers are also its curse. He cannot stop being the Despair Rider: he cannot disobey. Gohdumsin has complete control over him and is able to control his every action with just a thought. Additionally, the Despair Rider is permanently feeling the emotion of despair. This can potentially hinder his abilities if overwhelmed by the emotion.
* **Cursed Magic Nullification-** After becoming a rider, Despair is almost entirely made up of cursed magic. Nullifying this magic would be the same as safely destroying him, including the curse that transfers his powers. This weakness was exploited by the Heralds of Retha.

## Trivia

* The Despair Rider can be seen in the Broken Destiny's Siege poster.