Sir Pentious

**Sir Pentious** is a supporting antagonist in the *Divine Comedy*.

He serves as a recurring antagonist in most of volume one, a minor antagonist in the beginning of volume two and four, and a major character in volume five later being a supporting antagonist.

Originally named Sir Charles Parkes, he is now slithering tryhard, inventor, and serpentine kingpin sinner. Sir Pentious is a brilliant, hegemonic, Victorian antagonist who uses terrible machines, army of sentient egg minions, and attempts to be "hip" in an attempt to seize control of the Nine Circles of Hell. In reality, however, he is merely a bombastic, flamboyant, and persistent underachiever, with traits reminiscent of a cartoon supervillain.

## History

### Background

In life, Sir Pentious, then known as Sir Charles Parkes, was a brilliant, yet insane Victorian inventor and scientist who specialized in building machinery and robotics. On the surface he would attempt to hasten the advancement of the machinery used to increase the British monarchy's hold over certain territories and become one of the great superpowers of the world. In reality, Parkes's main goal was to profit from selling his inventions and weapons to other foreign countries that are allied or even against the United Kingdom.

At some point in time, Parkes would meet Baxter Fischer, a German scientist that partnered up with Parkes. They sought to create an empire of their own that deals in the manufacturing of advanced machinery equipped for battle as well as conduct heinous experiments on unfortunate victims, who suffered from their business, and turn them into superhuman soldiers. However, Sir Charles Parkes met his end by Baxter's hands when the latter discovered that he intended to kill Baxter once they've reached their peak and finds that he no longer has any use for Baxter. Baxter would then flee to America on a steamship.

### In Hell

Parkes was condemned to Hell after his death, confined to the Sloth, Greed, and Pride Circles, reborn as Sir Pentious. At some point in time, using the knowledge he attained during his partnership with Baxter, he created an army of sentient eggs known as the Eggmen, and the snake used them as minions in his various schemes.

Using his expertise in crafting machines, Pentious crafted many machines and devices of mass destruction, which he uses as a part of his advantage to rebuild his industrial empire, take over all of Hell and elevate to an Overlord. He would even gain an apprentice from the Gluttony Circle, a possum-like sinner named Amity who, while lazy, abrasive, and somewhat callous can be resourceful and loyal.

## Personality

Sir Pentious is a bombastic, flamboyant, and persistent snake sinner, having the personality one would expect from a classic, stereotypical cartoon supervillain. He takes exaggerated pride in how evil and cunning he is (or thinks he is). Like many such villains, he has a tendency to gloat and monologue about his evil plans, or how much he believes he is evil, superior, and classier than other sinners, despite what reality says otherwise.

However, Sir Pentious is an extremely ineffectual and incompetent villain. He claims that he is an Overlord, or at least near an Overlords' level of power, but, at best, he's a criminal kingpin with a following of sycophantic Eggmen, but he's certainly no conqueror as he consistently gets defeated by those he attempts to overthrow. But despite having a long record of losses, Sir Pentious retains his inflated ego. He’s quick to compliment himself, whether it’s about his good-looks or his brilliance. It’s because of Pentious's pride over himself that he tends to have the same bad habit as most super villains: he explains his master plans at a critical moment, giving individuals like Cherri Bomb and the hotel crew the time they need to quickly bring him down. Whenever he’s beaten by them, he washes it off right away and begins scheming another plan.

Beneath his mustache-twirling villainous streaks, Sir Pentious is truly a tragic and sympathetic villain. He is extremely lonely and his desire to conquer Hell isn't to enslave others into worshipping him but to finally be accepted, loved, and respected by others and no longer viewed as a failure. He is also desperate for love and companionship and is even somewhat of a hopeless romantic behind closed doors, with a fondness for listening to love songs while crying and eating ice cream and dead rodents.

While he is overly proud of himself, Pentious is still not without his virtues; despite subjecting them to much abuse for his own failings, he does care about the Eggmen deep down. In addition, Pentious is capable of behaving with affable conduct to those who show respect and kindness towards him, as he shares a genuinely friendly relationship with Charlie Morningstar, the Princess of Hell, despite frequent attempts to take over her home. His most prominent relationship was with Baxter whom he once considered his best friend and sidekick. Often, Baxter seems to be the more intelligent of the two, but that could be because Baxter tends to be more conservative and practiced than Pentious. Life and nonlife with Baxter is about fun and games as much as it’s about evil and terror. This is also why he was utterly distraught and devastated when he discovered that Baxter was the one who killed him.

## Trivia

* His name is a play on the word "Serpentes". His name also bares a resemblance to 'pretentious', which means attempting to impress by affecting greater importance than is actually possessed, a definition that perfectly describes Pentious' tryhard characterization.
* His theme song would be "Villain" by The Cog is Dead.
* It is implied that he and Bertrum Handeeman met when they were alive.