Augustus and Arlecchino

## Profile

At the intersection between madness and divinity, **The World's End Carnival** is a whole *circus* of god-monster-clowns trapped under the Memory Palace (Long story short, my Castlevania knockfoff)! Not necessarily malevolent, but very much chaotic and very much dangerous.

The core players are based on the Commedia Dell'arte stock players, given its relation to the history of clowning making it perfect for ur-clowns (Shoutout to Friendlytroll for suggesting that), though there's more than that because, like with clown cars, every time you think they've all gotten out, there's another one!

And the first to arrive are The two "main" clowns, **Arlechhino** and **Augustus**, based on the split of the "Harlequin" character via the British Harlequinade into the elegant Harlequin and the boorish Clown, later relating to the roles of the big boss "White" Clown and the rude; crude "Red" Auguste.

Stuck underneath the castle, they create proxy-doubles of themselves to operate through various means, most often mysterious "tickets," and while these proxies are a far cry from the real deal, they are still frighteningly powerful. Arlecchino's most common animal motif is a worm (Because Ligotti) and Augustus' is a spider (THEY ALL FLOAT DOWN HERE) and often their "Shit gets serious" forms take aspects of those.

But, unlike the rest of the carnival; it's unsure if they really want to get out fully. At least, not until the end of days. I mean, what fun is chaos if there's no order for it to wreck?! At least, not until the ultimate showtime...

## Abilities

While their powers are enormous to the degree of what you'd expect for god-clowns (Though, as I have stated before, Arlecchino prefers to give them a classy look while Augustus prefers to go for lowbrow-but-comical) they do have notable features of their own.

Aside from his strength, Augustus is surprisingly flexible, like a cartoon character or a balloon, which leads to him being able to appear anywhere you could possibly think of, and many places you couldn't! He can appear anywhere from the clouds to a tiny car to a storm drain!

Arlecchino, of course, has a more subtle, unsettling power. Namely: The touch. He has the ability to turn one into a clown; a 100% biologically true clown; with a single touch, with roles and abilities based on one's personality. Whether this is a blessing or a curse is up to the "victim."

## Characterization

Arlecchino is a classy jester of style and elegant spectacle, while Agustus is crass and fond of physical antics and crude extravaganza. Though, do not mistake lack of refinement for stupidity, as Augustus is frighteningly brilliant, just far more direct and lowbrow than Arlecchino's witty yet curcuitous curcomlocution

They think of themselves as "brothers" (As close as supernatural ur-clowns can be, with evidence that in the past they may have been one being), but the shocking thing is that despite their differences in methodologies, there's rarely much arguing. Sure there is plenty of banter, but that's all part of the bit, all part of the job for them.

## Author Commentary

So, I got an idea into my head, around the time Jevil was getting popular: "Why are god-monster-clowns such a common trope?"

Like, not specifically monster-clowns, but monster-clowns with *god-level* powers. Like, Marx, Dimentio, Kefka, Pennywise, Jevil, it's weirdly specific and weirdly commo! So, naturally, I decided to make my own take on that trope! To the most ludicrous extreme! And a shoutout to blogger Friendlytroll for his idea that the Commedia would be a good basis for the Clowns of the World's End Carnival!

Note also they are both based on Harlequin, but in a weird way, in that they are based on how the character was essentially split into the Red Clown and White Clown characters for the English Harlequinade. Both because I wanted the villainous harlequin archetype but also a more classical monster-clown, and also because deep cuts are fun!

## License

This character is free to use as you see fit under a CC-BY 4.0 license so long as I; Thomas F. Johnson, am credited as their creator!

## Blatant Shilling

And, if you wanna support me, maybe check out my Patreon, which I previewed this design on ages ago, or even just send a Ko-Fi my way! Every penny is appreciated, and I am eternally grateful for those who donate!