Devil's Kiss

Art by GrassFur

> *"**This** is what the* *Devil's kiss* *did to me." - Johnathan Ville*
>
>

**Devil's Kiss** is one of the main protagonists in The Paradise Chronicles. He was once a normal man, but after being corrupted by a succubus, he sought retaliation and turned to demon hunting. He is deeply vengeful, and has sworn revenge on anything that crawls out of hell.

Despite being a main protagonist, he does not show up often during the Dead War, despite his status as a Lucky 13 member. After the Hell Patrol Initiative is started, he is a prominent character featured throughout the story.

## Appearance

Devil's Kiss is a human of abnormal size, standing at a height just over eight feet tall. He is very muscular, with broad shoulders, both of which enhance his large stature. He is extremely pale, his skin being almost completely white. His has long, white-silver hair, the length of which falls to the small of his back.

Certain parts of his body have suffered corruption, leaving them torn and exposed. His mouth is the most notable occurrence of this corruption, with the skin there becoming blackened and malleable. Many of his teeth have turned from normal human teeth and become something resembling long, black and purple quills. Much like the discoloration and decay around his mouth, other parts of his body have been affected in a similar manner, including portions of his chest, crotch and legs.

He wears a large crimson overcoat and a matching wide brim hat. Beneath his coat, he wears a black dress shirt, layered under a crimson vest. Over the vest he wears a cross-chest belt. He wears dark brown pants, and black mid-calf combat boots. He always hides his face, wearing round red glasses and a custom black and purple gas mask.

## History

### **Early Life (1934-1967)**

Born and raised in Missouri, Jonathan spent his childhood and early adult life in his home town of Kansas City. During highschool, he met a woman: his future fiancé, Belle O'Hara, who he would eventually marry in 1952. After graduating from school, he became a warehouse worker, with aspirations to eventually become an electrician.

Around a year into their marriage, Jonathan started start to see other women, without the knowledge or consent of his wife, Belle. These activities would continue for another year until 1967, where Jonathan would have a particular one night stand. The women he engaged with turned out to be a succubus, aiming to corrupt or even consume him entirely. He was able to flee and escape the demon's clutches, but was not quick enough avoid being corrupted by her. The key point of infection was his mouth. After this encounter, Jonathan spiraled, realizing the error of his ways and seeing the incident with the succubus as a sign-- not a sign from God, however, for in his eyes, meeting a creature like that meant there wasn't a higher power after all.

After this, Jonathan abandoned his wife without an explanation to her, and went on to live a life of solitude.

### **Be My Baby (1967-1969)**

***Content Warning:** mentions of self harm*

During this time, Jonathan implemented a self-imposed exile upon himself. He discovered that a characteristic of his corrupted state was the tendency to erratically shift into a demonic form that he could not control. He began referring to it as "the devil waking inside of him." Because of this, he kept away from civilization, trying to get as far away as possible so that he couldn't hurt anyone. He traveled far down into the bayous of Louisiana and Mississippi, looking for a way to stop himself. Eventually, his options thinned to only one: ending his own life. However, this attempt would be futile, as the "devil within" would stop any attempts from then on out.

These occurrences would continue sporadically for years, and this slowly deteriorated his mental state. It drove him to madness, and he became consumed by anger and hate. The *demons* were the reason for all of this. They cursed him to become this being, and now, they stopped him from passing on. This was all *their* fault-- they were the reason his life was ruined. At least, that's what he told himself, whether or not it was entirely true. Nonetheless, Jonathan fueled himself with this hatred and anger, to find other demons, vowing to end any he found before they could hurt anyone else.

Driven to achieve this goal, Jonathan would take his novice and train, sharpening his skills and training in body and mind. He utilized his situation of living in the wilderness to his advantage. He hunted animals for survival, and for sport, in order to become more efficient at killing. In time, he would eventually begin to investigate and hunt down demons. At first this was challenging, as he had to rely on local rumors of evil spirits or monsters lurking in the mountains. After much tribulation, Jonathan would encounter his first target: a Link classified Danima named Parce. Despite the demon being fairly weak on the overall demonic power scale, they still proved themselves a challenge to Jonathan. Ultimately, wishing not to die, Parce struck a deal with him: should Jonathan spare his life, Parce would make Jonathan a talisman that would help him control the demon within. Jonathan agreed, giving the condition that the talisman double as a weapon that could kill any demon. Reluctantly, Parce accepted these terms.

During their encounter, Jonathan interrogated Parce for their knowledge of demons and hell. Although not an Oracle, Parce still told him everything they knew, informing Jonathan about different types of Danima, and how hell-- or as they called it, Ovum-- worked, as well as differences between Ovum and Earth.

Shortly after, Parce produced a sword. They asked in Jonathan wanted to name it, but he saw no reason to. To him, it was just a tool, and simply calling it "sword" was fitting enough. As agreed, Parce's life was spared, but Jonathan added a final condition: that if he ever needing anything else, he would come to Parce, and Parce would oblige. Reluctantly, Parce agreed.

From this moment on, Jonathan was now Devil's Kiss, demon hunter.

### **Repentless (1969-2030)**

Devil's Kiss would proceed to go on a decades-long crusade hunting any Danima that he could. At some point during his crusades, he would discover the means of entering Ovum itself, where he would begin to hunt as well. He traveled to many planes of Ovum, such as Basalt Ager, Rinis Rupes, Hy Campis, and most prominently, Tancas Via, where he set a home base for Parce, further cementing the state of Parce's servitude to him. It didn't take long for Devil's Kiss to make quite the name for himself, in Tancas Via and many other planes of Ovum. While mainly known just as Devil's Kiss, he also earned himself the nicknames of "The Slayer" and "Devil's Bane."

During these years of hunting, there came a time where he crossed paths with another demon hunter, known as Seras. Like himself, she was once a human, corrupted by a demon, which he now knew was referred to as a Fallen Angel. This Seras was known as the "Jinn Hunter" and he came across her while hunting for an Omen-class Danima in Europe. Meeting someone like himself made Devil's Kiss not feel alone for the first time in years, if not decades. They teamed up together to take down the Omen, and after, Seras would offer him a partnership: to both fulfill their desires of exterminating these creatures from Earth, and to do make sure they lived well while doing it. Devil took her up on this agreement, and the two would go on to hunt together. Over time, Devil's Kiss began to feel that Seras could be the one to make him happy again, make him feel whole. Despite his efforts to deny them, his feelings for her grew and boiled inside him over their years of hunting together.

However, these feelings would come exploding out when Seras betrayed him. Willing to sacrifice him for her benefit. He knew that she cared for her own safety but he never thought that she would betray him. Not after many years of hunting together. Seras would finally come forward with her feelings for him, letting him know that she did not feel this way but instead saw him as just a hunter like her. A worker. Nothing else. This devastated Devil's Kiss, he saw her as someone he cared about. Someone to be his. Someone to be Belle. The two would have a gruesome fight, one that almost ended with the end of Seras but she was able to narrowly escape. This relationship would further cement Devil's Kiss original idea of keeping to himself. To isolate.

Devil's Kiss would spend the rest of years hunting alone. Only on the occasion would he visit Parce. During one of these trips to them Parce would craft a new talisman for Devil's Kiss. A shotgun that would be called "Altum's Gaze."

During the 80's Devil's Kiss would be approached by the leader of The Guardians and member of the Lucky 13 at the time Sinsan, acting as a representative, he asked for Devil's Kiss to join the organization as they saw him to be a potentially useful member. At this time Devil's Kiss was considered the strongest human on the planet even surpassing Sinsan himself. Though this was not fully true, he was still an extremely powerful human and his knowledge of Ovum was extremely valuable. Devil's Kiss saw no point in joining the organization. That was until Sinsan explained that the Lucky 13 could make sure that no external forces could meddle in his demon hunting. Specifically referring to governments of any kind. He was also promised that he could continue his hunting as he pleased and did not need to attend any meetings. All they asked was he be part of the group and that he provide his information on Danimas and Ovum. Devil's Kiss would think over the offer for a while but eventually agree to join the organization.

While the Dead War was happening Devil's Kiss for the most part continued hunting demons, paying no mind to it. It wouldn't be until an acting member of The Guardians and 3rd member of the Lucky 13 the Phoenix Guardian approached him and asked for his assistance. Devil's Kiss was tasked with hunting down and killing Mr. Black. Similar to when Sinsan approached him to be part of the Lucky 13 Devil's Kiss was skeptical, though during the explanation of the task how the Phoenix Guardian spoke of Mr. Black made him think that Mr. Black was a Fallen Angel. Potentially one that could be succumbing to a Danima. At the time Devil's Kiss speculated that the Danima inside Mr. Black could have been either a Omen or Calamity class Danima. Devil's Kiss would then answer the call to hunt down Mr. Black and after fight him and other members of Paradise Corporation he would come to the conclusion that Mr. Black was in fact not a Fallen Angel. When this revelation hit Devil's Kiss he completely lost interest in the affairs and retreated. Keeping to himself once more and hunting demons.

### **Speak Of The Devil (2030 Onwards)**

5 years after the Dead War Paradise Corporation would look and try to find Devil's Kiss. Eventually they would find him and explain the mission they were on. How after his encounter with Mr. Black and giving him the realization that demons and hell were in fact real that Mr. Black wished to better the world and sever the connection between Earth and hell. Unlike previous proposals given to Devil's Kiss this was one he was more inclined to accept given the mission fell in line with his own. However despite this feeling Devil's Kiss was still hesitant to join. It wouldn't be until a fellow Fallen Angel and former member of the Lucky 13 Sentinel confided in Devil's Kiss and told them how serious Mr. Black and his organization was in dealing with this, spending at least 3 out of the 5 years between then and the Dead War looking for him. This along with a voice in the back of his mind would be the pushing force Devil's Kiss needed to join up with Mr. Black and become a member of the Hell Patrol.

From then onward Devil's Kiss would be an associate of Paradise Corporation, helping them in any relations with Danima and Ovum as a whole, which after the events of Hell Patrol was everything they were dealing with.

## Personality

Due to his time as a demon hunter Devil's Kiss has grown to be a very distant and isolated person. He mostly keeps to himself and does not go out of his way to make new relations. When he does work with people, like those of Paradise Corporation or the Hell Patrol, he usually is very serious and aloof. When approaching situations he will have realist viewpoint as opposed to some of his peers, including other demon hunters like Seras. Due to this it can be hard for one to approach Devil's Kiss usually.

Devil's Kiss is an extremely hate filled person. His anger is the driving force for his demon hunting and is what keeps him going in general. He feels that not only does the original succubus that cursed him should suffer but almost every demon he comes across should suffer too. He feels that they are nothing more than monsters that only wish for the downfall of him and humanity in general. His anger can fog his judgement and lead to rash decisions in intense moments. Besides general coldness the only real emotion that can describe Devil's Kiss is anger.

Beneath his thick skin exterior and then under his anger filled blood Devil's Kiss contains a deep seeded guilt. A sadness that he carries with him throughout his journeys and adventures. Intertwined with his hatred for demons is his guilt of being subdued by a cardinal sin. This is something that weights on him and makes him feel that he must get revenges on demons and hell as a whole to pay for his sins. This guilt is not something that he shares lightly or with anyone really. This is a burden that he feels he must carry on his own. No matter what.

## Powers and Abilities

### **Hunting Prowess**

Devil's Kiss has been hunting demons for multiple decades and because of this he has gained an extreme wealth of knowledge on demons and the multiple planes of hell that they inhabit. This knowledge has been put to good use. Besides being able to navigates hell he has been able to learn the different classes of demons and exploit each of their weakness in battle.

His days hunting have also made him a formidable foe in battle. Not including his weaponry and Danima powers he can hold his own in hand to hand against descent level Danima. Devil's strength is also something to be marveled. Being able to even break and crush boulders with his hands.

### **Weaponry**

    His sword, which has no name, is the main weapon of choice. The blade itself is nearly the size of Devil's Kiss and is made completely of stone. Despite this the sword can cut cleaning through stone itself. Embedded within the sword are demonic runes that help him keep his inner Danima under control but also control it and use it to his advantage, a talisman for his sin. Outside of this it is just a sword.

Devil's Kiss other weapon of choice is his gun called "Altum's Gaze." The gun was crafted by a Danima that he had met in his travels. The gun itself is infused with a gazer known as "Altum" who was an Omen Danima. Devil's Kiss can both use the barrels of the gun and Altum itself to fire projectiles. Out of the normal barrels he can shoot fiery bullets that are ignited by the gun. From Altum Devil's Kiss can shoot a concentrated beam of cursed energy. This energy builds up as he fights, feeding off the misfortune of his targets. Devil's Kiss himself is not sure if Altum is still alive or conscious within the gun, or if it's dead.

### **God's Gift**

Devil's Kiss's power is nothing super extraordinary. His power is called "Noah's Tongue" which allows him to understand any language spoken to him. This power has proven to be an extremely useful tool for utility. Mostly he uses it in his pursuit of knowledge on Danima. This power is what helped propel Devil's Kiss into becoming one of the most powerful hunters. Being able to understand and deeply study them more than a normal hunter could gave him an extreme edge. This power also works on human languages as well, making it easier for him to get around Earth when needed. Also made hunting on Earth much easier as well.

### **Danima Powers**

Because of Devil's Kiss being a Fallen Angel he gained Danima powers. In the beginning he could not fully control them. It wouldn't be until he obtained his sword that he was able to keep it under control and use the powers in a more free manner. Devil's Kiss does everything he can to not use his Danima powers. However when he does he uses his sword to transform into his Danima form.

The form itself it slightly larger than Devil's Kiss normal size, growing a few feet in height. Over the course of Paradise Chronicles it has many different forms, however the base is always the same. The skin is a dull gray and purple, being more colorful in the hand and feet region. Large black quills grow out from his mouth and cover his face like a visor and then slicking back like hair. His right arm also gains a giant stone blade that goes up his entire arm. The stone blade also contains the same runes as his normal blade. In the second form of this Danima state he gains a giant bulge on his left shoulder that opens up to a fiery crevasse with teeth poking out from it. Connected to this giant bulge is four gun barrels that are also imbued with his arm. The barrels breach at the elbow and release a black purple smoke similar to the smoke that leaves the mask in his human form. Finally in the final version of his Danima state he gains giant bat like wings, his legs become more hoof like, and sprouting from his head beneath the quills are large bull like horns.

In this state he has much increased strength and durability. On top of this depending on his form he gains new methods of attack, whether it be his bladed arm, the cannon attached to his arm, or the quills across his body. The last form even having the ability to fly short distances.

## Trivia

* Jonathan would not give himself the name Devil's Kiss; Seras gave him that as a nickname.
	+ He hates the nickname. However it stuck and became the default that everyone would call him.
* He always carries a cassette player on him at all times.
	+ Despite this he only has one cassette that is titled "Wedding Songs" which contains songs such as "Be my Baby" by The Ronettes, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys, and "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney.
* Before becoming a demon hunter his favorite pass-time was bowling.

## Gallery

Art by GOOEY\_BUNArt by GOOEY\_BUNArt by JackArt by SaturnDigitalArt by SaturnDigitalArt by SaturnDigital