Alastor

**Alastor**, also known as the **Radio Demon**, is the tritagonist as well as supporting antagonist of the *Divine Comedy*.

Alastor is one of the more enigmatic and mysterious demons in Hell. He is a sinner who accumulated immense dark powers from an unimaginable force which allowed him to topple Overlords that ruled regions of the Pride Circle for centuries before his arrival.

A mysterious dealmaker and charismatic showman with a flair for the theatrics, he takes a particular interest in Charlie's plans to redeem sinners. He would assist her in her endeavours, though he made it clear that it was not out of some moral obligation but simply something that will sate his curiosity as well as amuse him.

## Appearance

### Normal Form

Alastor is a slim, dapper sinner, with beige colored skin, and a broad, permanently affixed smile full of sharp, yellow teeth. He is approximately the same height as his rival, Vox, with the two of them standing at approximately 7 feet.

He sports a pinkish-red cropped, angled bob-cut with black tips at the ends and two large, black tipped tufts of hair extending from the top of his head, evoking the ears of a deer. The style has an undercut at the back, and two small black antlers protruding from the crown, which can grow in size in his full demonic form. His eyes have dark-red sclerae, bright-red irises and thin black pupils (which can change into the shape of radio dials when shifting into his full demon form). He also wears a dark-red oval-shaped monocle, rimmed with black, over his right eye.

Alastor's primary attire consists of a dark red, pinstriped coat, which is slightly ragged along towards the bottom, a bright red undershirt with a black cross on the chest underneath, and long burgundy dress pants with matching bright red cuffs. He is also dressed in a red-knotted bowtie, burgundy gloves, and black, pointed-toe tap-dancing boots with red deer hoofprints emblazoned on the soles. He is almost always seen carrying around a thin cane with a sentient, vintage-style microphone attached to it, which he uses to play sound effects and broadcast his voice.

### True Form

When assuming his true demonic form, Alastor's height increases to roughly ten feet in length. He stands bipedal instead upright and his attire looks to fuse with certain parts of his body. He develops a gaunt and seemingly malnourished physique with his rib cage morphing into what look to be radio speakers on where his lungs should be that constantly ooze out a black substance and glow red whenever he makes audible noises. His antlers radically sprout in different directions resembling a leafless dead tree.

Alastor's face shifts into that of a skeletal bovine appearance with several lingering pieces of flesh on him, but most disturbingly is that his normal face is latched onto the demonic bovine face as though his original face was skinned and worn as a bloody smiling mask.

## History

### Background

Alastor was born in New Orleans, Louisiana as Alphonse Guidry to an African American mother and Caucasian father around the late 1800s on a farmland. Unbeknownst to him at the time, he would be used by a powerful spirit once summoned by his mother as an exchange of payment for its services to Maria. Shortly after his fifth birthday, Alphonse's father abandoned him and his mother Maria, likely in order to dodge the racial prejudice that was rampant in the 20th century, leaving his mother to raise Alphonse alone.

Over the years Alphonse would face racial prejudice due to his ethnicity but would be comforted by his mother, who was Alphonse's only strong emotional connection throughout his life. Alastor mentioned that he was homeschooled by his mother and learned how to read, do math, as well as cook and clean growing up. He reveals that his mother is the reason why he would always smile as she would always tell him that a "smile will light you up in the darkest cave" and that "no one will ever bring you down while you smile." However, on that fateful night, Alphonse returned home, horrifically discovering that his mother was brutally murdered. Desperate and full of rage, he incessantly tried to hunt down whoever was responsible but after seeing that the authorities would not bother he would take matters into his own hands.

He discovered his mother's "secret room" in the basement where she held her voodoo practices. He would use voodoo to bring forth his mother's murderers so they could be punished accordingly. While having little experience, Alphonse was surprisingly quite adept in using the proper incantations and esoteric herbs to summon the loa that could help him. The loa that answered identified itself as Baron Kriminel. Alphonse pleaded with the loa to help him bring justice to those who killed Maria. Kriminel obliged by possessing Alphonse and used his body to locate and violently murder those who killed Maria. When the deed was done, Alphonse pledged his undying loyalty to the loa, becoming his servant.

### Killer of New Orleans

Over the years, Alphonse would work under Baron Kriminel, killing those who committed heinous crimes and becoming the infamous "Radio Killer" of New Orleans for when he completed a murder the authorities would often find a radio tuned into a station that played Blues music. He would come to travel outside of New Orleans and recalls visiting New York and Chicago, even gaining friends of his own along the way who only consisted of two individuals that did not discriminate him for the color of his skin but would also find common ground with another in relation to their fondness towards theater and music.

Though claiming to have lived an idyllic life despite living through horrible events such as the Spanish Flu and the Stock Market Crash, he did not stop his killing spree at Baron Kriminel's behest. Alphonse at first only believed he was enforcing his own twisted justice on criminals but came to realize that he was a collector for Baron Kriminel, aiding him in harnessing as many sinful souls as possible. Alphonse was never captured nor identified as the killer as he would be protected by Kriminel.

### Death

Alphonse's life came to an end when he died in 1933. While burying the bodies of his victims, a hunter mistook him for a deer and shot at him, resulting in him being mortally wounded. Alphonse attempted to escape, but was met by a pack of spectral dogs who actually belonged to the loa Papa Legba. Papa Legba's dogs viciously mauled him to death, but this was only done as Baron Kriminel was overreaching his boundaries in regards to how much the loas interact with the living.

Alphonse was taken to Guinee, the Haitian underworld, and right when he was about to be claimed by Baron Samedi (who Baron Kriminel is an aspect of) he was stopped by Papa Legba. Alphonse's death at Legba's hands severed his service to Samedi therefore Samedi could not claim him. The Baron confronted Legba in regards to him taking away his best meal ticket. To settle the dispute, Baron Samedi and Papa Legba made a wager. The wager involves them having to use Alphonse in Hell. Brought before the loas, the two made a promise to him; Samedi (as Kriminel) said that he could use the powers given to him to overcome the greatest sinners then give them to Kriminel in exchange for being able to see his mother again, but all Papa Legba gave him is help "light up the match" again.

### Arrival in Hell

Though he did not understand Papa Legba's cryptic promise he would nonetheless agree to the terms issued by the two loa and would play their little game. In fact, he was more interested in fulfilling Samedi's part of the wager as it follows the same song he danced and sung to when he was alive. Arriving to the Christian Hell, he abandoned his birth name and would forever be known as Alastor. He manifested with an inexplicably immense amount of power he accumulated during his reign of terror on Earth courtesy of Baron Kriminel. Using such immense dark powers granted to him by the death loa, Alastor quickly began terrorizing the populace, toppling Overlords who had been dominant for centuries, and causing widespread mayhem.

Once besting said Overlords he would throw them in a pocket dimension called "the Station" where they would be subjected to the most inhumane forms of psychological torture. Alastor claims that this is a way of "salting the meat" for his superior to enjoy the finest meal prepared for him. He would broadcast his carnage all throughout Hell which earned him the title of "Radio Demon" by Hell's populace. Though he was feared by Hell's lower class and middle class citizens, he was not really all that acknowledged by some of its rulers such as the Seven Emperors and other royals. Lucifer however grew to respect Alastor's methods and usage of the dark arts through showmanship and theatrics. During his time in Hell, Alastor would claim two sinners in his employ, Husk and Niffty, via contract signing as well as befriend the likes of Mimzy and even fellow Overlords like Rosie.

## Trivia

* Alastor's name in ancient Greek means "spirit of revenge" or "tormentor".
* His theme song would be "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" by Daniel Craig.
* It is implied that Alastor was the entity summoned by Robert Johnson to perform a diabolical bargain in order to become the greatest musician in the Mississippi Delta. Although this is highly unlikely as Alastor is a sinner and is subjected to Hell's laws of sinners being chained to the Pit as its prisoners.
* There's suggestions that Alastor's cannibalistic streak stemmed from his ties to Baron Kriminel. This is due to the fact that Baron Kriminel has been known to assault his victims by tearing out chunks of their flesh with his teeth though never outright devouring them entirely.
* Alastor is extremely fond of Christmas and Halloween as the two holidays bring cheer/smiles and good scare to people.
* He is a fan of films that exhibit Lynchian themes such as the 1959 American horror anthology television series *The Twilight Zone*.