Tyrant

* Support Regiment
* Special Operations Forces
	+ Oikeia Squad

Party of Hope
Order of Assassins
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Hermes Motorcycle Club
Fuerza Severo de Reacción
Theomachia Fight Club
Church of Therion
Coffeeholics Anonymous
Tacez tribe
Ghost Club
House of Mavet
Syndicate of Thieves
Freelancers

*"My fate was decided by those who don't even know me, by a power I did not choose, by an incurable poison in my heart. But I reject that fate. This is my will!"*
―Judas rejecting his purpose
**Judas Wormwood** is the tyrant god-king of Pathos and supreme commander of its military. He is the reincarnation of Cath Noxtja'luth.

## History

### Before birth

According to Saint Michael, Thomas Wormwood was possessed by the fallen archangel Samael during the conception of Judas.

### Early life

#### Youth in Avaritia

Circa 2100, Judas was born to the aristocratic Wormwood family. Thomas forced him to study the history of Pathos while imposing a vengeful and skeptical mindset that shaped how he perceived society. Conversely, his mother, Sofía Wormwood, taught him about the beauty of life. However, they gave a combined effort to educate him of foreign lands and their cultures, with contrasting ways of doing so, in the hopes of broadening his perspective.

He frequently visited the Avaritia catacombs to escape the outside world, finding solace in the silence of the dead.

#### Death of his parents

Perhaps the most tragic part of Judas' life was the day he witnessed his parents get killed by Markos Aviur. A tense conversation between Markos and Thomas ended abruptly when the heinous king stabbed his father; this grisly fate befell his mother soon afterward. He only escaped with the help of an old family friend, watching as his home became engulfed in flames.

After that day, Judas began to hear the voice of Samael in his head, although he did not realize it.

#### Refuge in the United States

Judas was forced to flee the country and wound up on a boat to the United States. He settled down in Los Colonia Proletaria, a small and reclusive town near the Mexico–United States border, but later moved over to Mexico.

### Military career

When he turned 16, Judas immediately enlisted into the Mexican Special Forces Corps, creating a fake identity to qualify. He was eventually recruited by the Fuerza Severo de Reacción, and served for about 7 years in total before going AWOL.

### Quest for vengeance

#### Return to Pathos

At the age of 23, Judas encountered a man named Benjamin Matos, whom introduced him to the Pathonian Liberation Front and, through some convincing, granted him a place on his ship, which was set to sail back to Pathos.

#### Kismet Island Raid

One year later, Judas partook in an operation led by the Intelligence Regiment's commander Shadowstar and assisted by members of the Special Operations Forces to raid Kismet Island. On their trip to the island, he experienced a resurgence of splitting headaches and dreamlike visions of an indistinct figure with luminous red eyes observing him, later revealed to be Samael. While storming the innermost base with the raid team, Judas was confronted by Null Následovník, who claimed to feel as though they had already met before and divulged key information, but the interaction ended shortly afterward when he is attacked by a guard. This led to him accidentally destroying a large portion of the base, and he started to hear the voice of Samael more often from then on.

After discovering that Pathos has made a covert alliance with its neighboring country Protivník, the Pathonian Liberation Front began making preparations to commence preemptive war. Judas found himself a priority target for the Pathos-Protivník Coalition due to the information provided by Null, who he learns is a member of the notorious Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, codenamed “*the Black Horseman*.”

Suspecting that their primary bases have been located by the enemy, the Liberation Front’s commander Pastel Reeds ordered that they be evacuated, but not before two are attacked in quick succession. The Kismet Island Raid Team sailed back onto the mainland, trekking more than 15 kilometers to reach the town of Oilfrad, whose mayor agreed to shelter the pursued freedom fighters. They are given some time to recuperate and participate in the concurrent Strawberry Festival.

#### Avaritia Firebombing

Judas was placed into the newly established Oikeia Squad, who were stationed in Avaritia to await further orders.

While revisiting his destroyed childhood home, Judas became aware that he was being targeted by multiple hired assassins after one attacks him, whom he questioned following an intense battle in order to figure out the situation at hand. The female assassin, named Ina De Angelis, revealed her status as a mercenary who had been told to kill "*Héctor Calavera*." She proceeded to insult Pastel Reeds, which caused him to express anger as the woman continued to say he wouldn't make it through the night. Using Destruction, Judas killed her, then a squadron of bomber planes carpet firebombed Avaritia after Takali Aviur, co-commander of the PPC, got word of his location via a quick report Ina sent prior to the fight.

#### The Wild Hunt

*Summary: Judas was hunted down by 16 more assassins over the course of a single night, heading toward the royal palace in Solaris all the while.*

#### Storming Aviur Palace

*Summary: Judas eventually reached Aviur Palace and forced his way inside to confront Markos and Takali directly, but they both suffered major injuries at one another's hands. He was blasted from the palace, knocked out, and saved by the curandera Yolian and taken to her hut in the Tacez Jungle.*

#### Path of the Warrior

*Summary: Judas was force-fed a ceremonial spiritual medicine that temporarily placed him in a state of virtual death, which lasted four days (asserted to have been around four years from his perspective). During this time, he journeyed through an endless tropical jungle while passing many challenges to test his spirit, and finally came back to the living world after conquering the Inner Demon.*

#### Leaving the Pathonian Liberation Front

With the operation derailed as a consequence of Pastel’s untimely death, Judas was targeted by the Coalition and forced to leave his friends behind in order to keep them from getting caught amidst the crossfire. He was briefly stopped by Benjamin while returning to Oilfrad for some necessary supplies, who hesitantly tolerated his decision before giving him the late commander’s scarf, believing that they would want him to have it.

### Self-realization and self-actualization

#### Becoming the Pale Horseman

*Summary: Judas decided to join the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse after Thanatos passed away. But first, he was required to tame Thanatos' warhorse, whom resided within the Uncanny Forests of Anath.*

#### Blood Moon Gala

*Summary: Judas was tipped off about a Pathonian noblewoman named Norika Visser attending the Blood Moon Gala, and used his connections to secure an invitation. It was revealed that the Wormwood family are the true royal family of Pathos.*

#### Hatred

*Summary: It took place some months after the Blood Moon Gala, consisting of Takali’s escape from Tartarus, procurement of followers, and attempt at taking revenge on Judas. After killing Takali, he was commended by Samael, who asked him what he will do next, to which he answered, "Take back my kingdom."*

### War on Humanity

#### Declaration of war

*Summary: Judas triggered the third world war, claiming that he aims to destroy modern society and become the king of the subsequent dystopia.*

## Personality

Judas is characterized by his cavalier demeanor, genius intellect, manipulativeness, and flagrant disregard for the basic rights of other people. He openly admits to having no qualms about performing evil deeds such as lying, cheating, stealing, or murdering innocent lives in order to get what he wants. His exceptionally cruel and narcissistic behavior can be attributed to how he views those around him with paltry significance, even going so far as to consider humanity no more important than a race of gnats.

## Abilities

**Overview**: As the hybrid son of a fallen archangel, Judas is one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Before returning to Pathos, Judas had attained preeminence within the *Cuerpo de Fuerzas Especiales*, becoming known as the youngest person to be recruited into the FSR, as well as their deadliest operative. He supposedly racked up the most confirmed kills to date. During the raid on Kismet Island, Judas was able to tussle with the elite Sentinels, a detachment of Pathonian Army soldiers assigned to the protection of the insular military bases. Passing the harsh trials of the Underworld strengthened his spirit, and after training with the Four Horsemen, he became substantially more adept in combat, a process that was facilitated by his newfound resolve. Perhaps the best exemplifications of this are his triumphs over the Titans, Princess Takali, the Oikeia Squad, and the other members of the Four Horsemen.

Judas eventually grew to be feared worldwide because of his monstrous power and due to being able to kill the globally-renowned hero Masato Amanaki, which led to the creation of the United Armed Forces, whose exclusive purpose was to defeat him.

* **Immense Strength**: Judas possesses a godlike degree of physical strength, which seems to grow during times of intense rage and hatred. Judas was able to effortlessly snap the neck of the Prime Legionnaire, tear apart an advanced fighter jet, fight on par with Takali, and can potentially surmount the combined might of the United Armed Forces, even without his additional powers. He further demonstrated the ability to move freely in the air with only his arm movements, as well as deflect incoming projectiles by generating intense wind pressure.
* **Immense Speed & Reflexes**: To match his strength, Judas possesses meteoric speed and reflexes that have allowed him to dodge rapid gunfire at close range, maneuver through falling debris, keep up with gifted speedsters, and take down entire groups of enemies before anyone saw what happened. It was nearly indistinguishable from teleportation at times. The only person known to consistently outclass him in this category is Starbright, who moves close to the speed of light.
* **Immense Durability**: TBA.
	+ **Supernatural Resistance**: Judas is highly resilient to most forms of powerful magic, elemental manipulations, powers, enchanted weaponry, and divine artifacts, allowing him to withstand deadly mystical attacks capable of killing or otherwise affecting regular mortals. However, he isn't immune and can still be severely harmed or influenced by the aforementioned phenomena if they are potent enough, as seen when Null concocted an illusion that tricked him.
* **Immense Stamina**: Judas has demonstrated significant staying power, being able to tolerate tremendous pain and remain constantly active for days without tiring or slowing down. During his military career, he was able to travel several dozen kilometers while critically injured, sleep-deprived, dehydrated, and suffering major blood loss, albeit visibly unable to properly think and on the verge of collapsing; nevertheless still managed to fight off countless enemies under these harsh conditions.
* **Enhanced Regeneration**: Judas has recovered from innumerable gunshots, broken bones, burns, bite wounds, gashes, and torso impalements, even regenerating his entire left hand after it had been cut off by Starbright.
* **Enhanced Senses**: Judas possesses extremely acute senses that allow him to perceive things outside the normal range of perception, which he displayed by discerning the presence of enemy forces instantly, even when they were scattered all around a mountain. He has been documented hearing, seeing and smelling near-imperceptible stimuli from remote locations, as well as easily detecting faint vibrations in the air. It was stated that only *grand veneur* Bloodhound outclasses him.
	+ **Night Vision**: Judas retains unhampered eyesight in darkness, attributed to the fact he possesses a variant of the tissue *tapetum lucidum* found in some nocturnal and deep-sea animals. This is also assumed to be the reason for his luminous irises.
* **Natural Weaponry**: Judas possesses fangs and sharp, retractable nails. He naturally secretes a deadly neurotoxin, dubbed "Nerveracker," that heavily impairs the nervous system to cause paralysis, among other things; the same properties can be found in his blood.
* **Accelerated Growth Rate**: Judas is a particularly fearsome opponent both in the short and long term because he can evolve fast enough to transcend his enemies midbattle. It was noted that his body is trying to seek an "ideal form" to accommodate his desire to destroy the world, hence the constant shapeshifting.
	+ **Adaptation**: Judas is able to reactively mutate to counteract new threats. This first manifested as desert locust-like wings used to escape a minefield, which he later detached and regrew on command. He also sprouted eight, red-violet tentacles to defend and fight for him while being restrained. He even developed pseudo-Goetias, but was forced to eliminate them because of the resulting physical backlash. Judas seemingly has partial control over his mutations.

**Genius Intellect**: Judas possesses an incredibly sharp mind, displaying enough observational and analytical skills to infer an opponent’s abilities simply by watching them in action; he can perform deductive, inductive. and abductive reasoning of the highest caliber. He was able to calculate the variables for jumping between two advanced fighter jets, as well as figure out where a teleporter would most likely appear, completely neutralize Lucas’ Railgun, orchestrate the espionage mission for the Blood Moon Gala, and allude the prying eyes of the public. He mostly relies on *ad hoc* plans that utilize lateral thinking, intuition and lightning-quick wit to outsmart adversaries, but employs "vertical" logic when it better applies, or even a mixture thereof.

Thanks to his flexibility, Judas can quickly adapt to foreign environments or situations that normally impede his abilities. He has regularly shown himself to have extraordinary versatility and improvisational skills when put under intense stress, changing directions in mere moments to better suit the occasion, even for simple reasons such as persuading someone.

* **Enhanced Memory**: Judas can remember great volumes of information, in more detail and for much longer than the average human; he can read books, listen to song lyrics, encounter people or experience events and recall a vast amount of the fine points involved.

**Indomitable Willpower**: Stemming from his traumatic childhood and profound hatred of life, Judas has a remarkably strong willpower that presents itself whenever placed into onerous situations. Even during fights where his powers were disabled, he stubbornly refused to back down since yielding meant he would be forfeiting his objective. Despite the onslaught of many successive paid assassins, Judas pulled through their debilitating attacks and completely dominated them each time, all the while being exhausted from his previous twelve-dozen confrontations. Judas had even brought himself back from clinical death, refusing to die when he still had “so many more people to kill." Additionally, he shows to be capable of resisting mind control, or ignoring it completely, as shown with his struggle against Ayin’s multiple attempts at possessing him.

**Intimidation**: Judas' hostility manifests as a malefic aura so intense that it can instill hallucinations of death into others, with his gaze being frightening enough to paralyze twenty-seven Coalition soldiers. When he sensed their presence, the assassins Blade and Viper were able to feel his murderous intent from several kilometers away, too.

### Powers

**Destruction**: Judas can disintegrate whatever he touches with his hands. The speed at which it progresses has developed from slow to almost immediate, eventually permeating a person's whole body if the afflicted section isn’t somehow separated from the rest. It also no longer requires him to maintain constant, five-fingered constant, since briefly brushing against his target or using less than five fingers will provide the same results. It has been shown to capable of affecting masses as large as the city of Ayalec and later Protivník in one fell swoop, and spreads throughout groups like wildfire, infecting anything they come into contact with even when he himself isn’t touching them.

By nature, this power forces Judas to always engage his opponent in close quarters, though he needs only to make minimal contact with his enemy in order to kill or heavily injure them.

Judas was usually careful with his hands whenever touching objects he didn’t want to destroy, letting at least one of his fingers free from use while holding things, but later gained enough control to freely interact with items without accidentally disintegrating them. This disciplinary achievement was accompanied by a new look for the power, appearing as mechanical lines akin to a circuit board that shoot across the intended targets, allowing him to leave certain obstacles completely unharmed. Through continuous precision training, Judas had even learned how to manipulate the speed at which it progressed and would have it very slowly eat away at victims’ bodies as a form of physical and psychological torture, forcing them to watch as their body became devoured by the gradual putrefaction.

**Magic**: Judas can wield powerful forms of magic.

* **Pyrokinesis**: Judas can

**Unnamed Goetia**: Judas is able to steal the powers of others by making physical contact, but often needs to maintain it for a few seconds because prematurely letting go will lead to an incomplete transfer. He can also redistribute these stolen abilities to someone else should they prove worthy. His multiple Goetias grant him a very wide variety of options in combat, and he can combine them to perform compound attacks with devastating effects. Unfortunately, the strain it has on his body hinders him from using them in continuous quick succession, leaving him exhausted after only a short amount of time. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the powers that are stolen depends on his own skills, requiring necessary training if it isn’t inherently straightforward.

Following the basic nature of Goetias, they may begin merging together to create stronger versions that have higher chances of mutating and evolving. This can equally be a downside, where he cannot properly handle the advancing strength.

* **Physiognomy**: This enables him to learn someone’s personality and intent by looking at their face.
* **Sixth Sense**: This enables him to detect oncoming threats.
* **Nerveracker**: This enables him to generate toxic smoke from his body.
* **Air Walk**: This enables him to float and suspend himself in midair.
* **Nuclear**: This enables him to create powerful explosions.
* **Wind Cannon**: This enables him to release pressurized wind.
* **Hellstorm**: This enables him to precipitate and control severe weather. He regularly calls down explosive lightning capable of destroying large buildings instantly, or blocks out the Sun with dark clouds.
* **Electrogenesis**: This enables him to generate electricity, which he used in conjunction with his Nerveracker Goetia to electrocute anyone caught inside the electrified smoke.
* **Super Regeneration**: This enables him to greatly accelerate cellular regeneration. However, it can also worsen any malignant growths present.
* **Rupture**: This enables him to purposely detonate any part of his body at will.
* **Scanning**: This enables him to identify powers and gain a read on their mechanics through an infrared-like vision.
* **Mind Control**: This enables him to telepathically exert his will onto others. However, a sufficiently strong willpower can resist or negate the effects.
* **AEM Waves**: This enables him to generate "anomalous electromagnetic waves," able to emit pulses of energy intense enough to physically damage objects such as buildings and aircrafts while disrupting communications.

### Skillset

**Combat Specialism**: Judas is an extremely accomplished special forces operator with tremendous mastery over both armed and unarmed combat, retaining his status as one of the finest CQC combatants in the world. He is shown to know various different martial arts, even developing a personalized system called Street Style. Due to years of taking notes on many battles, he has become very adept at strategy, capable of accurate scrutinization of his enemies or current situation and creating an effective plan from that information. Additionally, he can almost perfectly react to attacks by analyzing an opponent's body language (e.g., line of vision, posture, muscle tension, and center of gravity), including those meant to be unforeseen.

Judas' combat skills are so acute that “they could only be achieved through brutal, life-or-death training”; he's extremely agile, precise, proprioceptive, astute, and requires little to no windup whenever executing physical actions.

* **Ninjutsu**: Judas learned ninjutsu from the seasoned ninja warrior Chie Minami.
* **Horsemanship**: Judas learned how to ride horses and perform mounted combat from the Four Horsemen.
* **Weapon Mastery**: Judas is able to operate several different weapons, such as knives, swords, scythes, bows, and rifles. He can throw knives with deadly precision and accuracy, and even wield two weapons simultaneously.
	+ **Chain Weapon Mastery**: Judas is highly proficient in using chains or chain-based weaponry, easily taking down opponents with them and masterfully handing his spiked chains for not only combat, but also parkour.

**Survivalism**: Over the course of his life, Judas has acquired an assortment of skills focus on subsisting within natural or built environments, and exhibits the ability to very easily gather information about foreign biospheres/ecosystems to almost perfectly assimilate its “do’s and don’ts.” Examples include Kismet Island, the Tacez Jungle, albeit with help from the native tribe, as well as the distorted imitation of a tropical forest when he temporarily visited the Underworld.

In addition to his earned skills, Judas seems to be particularly predisposed to inhabit alpine locations and arctic climates that the majority would actively need to pursue experience for. This natural aptitude extends to intuitive knowledge of organic tracking methods, even understanding how to entrap and kill prey simply by instinct despite never having formal training. He also has an incredible sense of direction.

**Special Operations Expertise**: Judas underwent intense training during his time with the FSR. He is well-versed in espionage, special reconnaissance, direct action, counterintelligence, infiltration/exfiltration, sabotage, assassination, deception, interrogation, manhunting, operation deep behind enemy lines, unconventional warfare, and asymmetric engagements. He can also hack most computer systems.

* **Stealth**: Judas has repeatedly shown the ability to almost completely obscure himself from conventional senses, demonstrating extraordinary control over his body to profound effect, breaching into high-security buildings without being detected and suddenly disappearing out of sight the moment he’s looked away from. This includes social cloaking, disguise, acting, and camouflage.
* **Polymathy**: Judas procured a broad education within biology, general history, medicine, mathematics, physics, advanced chemistry, toxicology, metalsmithing, mechanical engineering, psychology, cryptography, religious studies, etc, though he cannot be viewed as comparable to an actual expert of the aforementioned fields. He learned how to perform magic tricks, sleight of hand, card throwing, and tarot reading from Null. He also knows how to sew.
	+ **Multilingualism**: Judas can speak English, Spanish, Russian, French, Arabic, Mandarin, Greek, and Latin, in addition to his mother tongue Pathonian, as well as use their signed variants.
* **Poisoning**: Judas is familiar with exotic poisons and sedatives. He specializes in neurotoxins.
* **Makeshift weapon creation**: Judas was taught how to manufacture IEDs, smoke bombs, improvised firearms, acid packets, rudimentary incendiary devices, phreaking boxes, booby traps, and related weapons.

**Parkour**: Judas is an amazingly talented traceur, capable of deducing the fastest, most efficient way to maneuver throughout any terrain and executing complex techniques without any issue.

### Weaknesses

**Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder**: According to Doctor Herūpa Shimadi, because Judas experienced a great deal of physical and emotional trauma all throughout his childhood, it affected his body's ability to respond to stress normally; this resulted in him reacting to new stress as though his life were in serious danger and subconsciously perceive trivial inconveniences with disproportionate concern, such as when he nearly melted down due to being unable to remember where he had left his scarf.

**Unnamed Headache Disorder**: Judas suffers from recurrent headaches that are often moderate to severe, which cause symptoms such as nausea, sudden fatigue, body spasms, hives (especially around the neck), and sensitivity to light, sound, and/or smell. He has dealt with it since puberty. They can be triggered by emotional distress, and he describes them as "feeling like his head is splitting."

Headaches are sometimes accompanied by visual and/or auditory hallucinations or visions of Samael, who usually tempts Judas into committing acts of violence and destruction, but also provides cryptic advise or an opinion that is relevant to the situation.

## Equipment

**Weapon arsenal**: Judas may wield various weapons when engaged in combat.

* Spiked chains.
* Two VEE Knives; a standard edition and a smaller one, the latter stuffed down his left boot.
* Toe-spiked combat boots.
* Samael's sword.

## Trivia

* Judas is left-handed.
* Judas was born amidst the winter solstice.
* Judas dislikes the nickname Judy.
* Judas wears high-compression boxer briefs.
* Judas holds his phone by wrapping his middle, ring and thumb finger around it while sticking out his remaining digits, similar to the sign of the horns.
* Judas enjoys wearing black eyeshadow/eyeliner.
* Judas bears a strong hatred for religion.
* Judas' favorite victuals:
	+ Avaritian wine.
	+ Raw meat, especially blue sheep, ibex, venison, or fish.
	+ Avocado toast.
	+ Black coffee with two teaspoons of sugar and honey mixed in.
* Judas would be a biology professor, if he were to have gotten an actual job.
* Judas whistles to reveal his presence.
* Judas is a gray pansexual.
	+ He appears somewhat uncomfortable with romance or sex, but only when it’s being directed at him specifically.
* Judas loves horror movies, especially those with exaggerated gore, such as splatter films.
* Judas' medical details:
	+ Judas is allergic to dust.
	+ Judas reflexively sneezes when exposed to sunlight.
	+ Judas has persistent thoughts and dreams about homicide, or violence in general.
	+ Judas suffered from canities subita the day his parents died.
* Judas has committed mass murder, assassination, terrorism, arson, theft, kidnapping, vandalism, criminal poisoning/drugging, armed robbery, torture, mutilation, extortion, blackmail, and many more. He's considered a habitual offender.

## Quotes

* (To his comrades) *“War is a terrible thing, isn’t it?”*
* (To an angered Pathos noble) *“Have a seat, take a breath, drink some coffee, and let’s have ourselves a civil conversation.”*
* (To himself) *“There’s no road left but the one that leads to the end.”*
* (To the Party of Hope) *“Hey! It’s the return of the new king!”*
* (To a group of PLF soldiers) *“Cavalry’s here!”*
* (To Takali) *”Now that my conscience is **dead**, there’s nothing left to save you, o Great King of Pathos.”*
* (To Takali) *"Did you feel that chill go up your spine just now? Your survival instincts flaring up all of a sudden? That sense of dread and despair overwhelming your ability to move? Good. That means you know exactly what's gonna happen, **bête noire**. With all the powers of hell, **I’m gonna parade your worthless remains throughout every inch of Anath**.”*

## Footnotes

1. ↑ Judas' mother originally wanted to name him Citlaltemoc because "a twelve-winged star fell from the sky" in a dream she had the night he was born. This was revealed to be Samael.
2. ↑ Learned from Thanatos
3. ↑ Learned from Nikolaos Kontos
4. ↑ Reminiscent of a descending minor 3rd