Haros

{ played by @Jon }

NAME: Haros
AGE: Eternal
SPECIES: God (Hellenic)
HAIR: Darkness
EYES: White (glowing)
BIRTHPLACE: The Underworld
POWERS & ABILITIES:

1. DESTINY VISION:
   Haros is capable of seeing the path of destiny attached to a given soul, which he uses to find the souls' afterlives.
2. DARK MAGIC:
   Having spent his life surrounded by the forces of death, Haros has mastered the use of the many dark magics that govern the underworld for himself.
3. SHAPESHIFTING:
   Haros is capable of changing their form at will. Usually he assumes the form of death in some capacity, most commonly a large, shadowy wolf.
4. SPIRIT ARROWS:
   He can summon magical arrows that strike into the souls of his targets, injecting them with Haros' magical influence.

When a living creature dies, its spirit is released from its body and sent to the underworld. Most spirits are just passing through on their way to the afterlife realm that claims them - of which there are nearly infinite - but occasionally a soul will get helplessly stuck in the space between these realms, unable to find its home. Oftentimes, these lost souls become food for the countless number of monstrous, soul-eating demons that inhabit the underworld. If one is really lucky, the lone god called Haros finds them first.

Haros has lived in the underworld for his entire life. Shortly after his birth, he was banished there for eternity by his mother, the goddess Nyx, who was horrified by his monstrous appearance. Eventually, after trying to spend his early days surviving there alone, Haros was approached by another god, the ruler of the underworld Hades, who promised Haros a safe refuge in his self-named city in exchange for assistance in helping souls find their way to his citadel. Eager to get out of the death-filled wilderness, Haros agreed, but he didn't realize he was signing his own soul away to Hades in a labor contract that would be held over him for the rest of his days.

This is how most recognized Haros -- or rather, by the name he was known as at the time, Charon -- in his younger days during the height of the Hellenic Pantheon of ancient Greece: a scary, old man who brought souls across the Styx, the river separating the rest of the underworld from Hades, in exchange for coin as payment for his services. This coin would be the only worship Haros would ever experience, a pale comparison to the temples built in honor of all the other gods in his pantheon. Over time, Haros grew to resent them all for it, and the only way he could power through it was to fantasize about one day in the future getting revenge against his family for his mistreatment.

To Haros' fortune, things have changed greatly since his pantheon fell to the rise of Christianity, and even more so since all the different pantheons from history agreed to stay away from Earth for the sake of humanity's growth. Hades' collection of souls, which he uses to empower himself, has slowly dwindled away as many in his possession are sent to be reincarnated through the process of metempsychosis that lets good souls rise again after 1000 years, and the number of incoming souls has decreased dramatically due to Hades no longer having any power over humanity. With all of his family now staying full-time in either the city of Hades or Mount Olympus, Haros has taken advantage of his new downtime by staying as far away from them all as possible. He'd never admit it, but even though he was forced into it as a job, a part of him has grown to love the lost souls he's spent his entire life protecting, most likely because he was once in their same position: alone in a scary world surrounded by death, and vulnerable to all of the dangers it brings. Thus, he's taken it upon himself to exploring the entire underworld to rescue all the lost souls out there that need his help, even the ones Hades has no claim over that are destined for some other afterlife he's never seen before.

The living world was never of much interest to Haros until the death of a man named Ethan Holloway, also called Limbo, who he discovered while exploring the vast underworld. Limbo was a lost soul unlike any other. Haros has divine power that allows him to see the fate of a given soul, which normally helps him find where it's mean to rest eternally; when he tried to do it with Limbo, he sensed a fate with no end, somehow intertwined with all of humanity. Unsure of what to make of it, and concerned about the implications for all afterlife existence, Haros made a point to keep an eye on Limbo just to be safe. When he discovered just how aloof and obtuse Limbo actually is, Haros took it upon himself to train him to better understand the untapped power that he possesses. If all of fate lies on Limbo's shoulders, even if he doesn't yet understand how or why, Haros knows that Limbo will need to be a lot stronger to face whatever is coming for him.

Although their relationship was initially rather contentious due to Haros' irritability and Limbo's absurd antics, the two of them have become rather inseparable partners in their shared mission of saving the souls of those who never found their way to rest. Limbo can freely move between the living and dead worlds, but as one of humanity's highest profile heroes, Limbo takes most of the skills Haros taught him in tracking souls and aiding them to help those still trapped in the mortal world, unable to make it to the underworld at all. Those lost in the underworld still fall under Haros' jurisdiction, which he vastly prefers over dealing with the filth and chaos of mortals. If Limbo needs Haros' help in the mortal world, though, Haros never declines. On Earth, he most commonly appears in the form of a large, shadowy wolf to obscure his own identity as all gods agreed to stay out of mortal affairs.

Together, they run the Limbo Lodge, an old motel in the world of the living which has seen so much death that a demon's heart grew inside of it, bringing it to life and turning it into a gateway to the underworld. The souls they rescue stay there safely until Haros or Limbo can figure out where they belong. Haros warded the place with ancient magic to keep enemies out, and Limbo somehow befriended the demon inside and trained it to protect the guests who live there instead of eating them. Spirits everywhere know that if they ever need help, the two of them are the ones to seek out for it.



When the Vanquishers signed up to compete in the Hellgames, a massive underworld even where all sorts of beings across the multidimensional underworld came together to fight in a violent arena competition, to save the soul of the recently murdered Spell-Slinger, which was being offered as the Hellgames' prize to be awarded to the victor, Limbo incorrectly assumed that Haros would be joining to fight for their team. Instead, Haros was recruited by Hades and Nyx to join their team, the Chthonic Division, calling on the contract he signed with Hades to force him to join against his will.

Haros played his part well for as long as he could, making Limbo very upset. He didn't know, though, that Haros made a plan to sabotage his team that would help get the Vanquishers one step closer to victory, and Haros enjoyed tormenting his companion so he refused to clue him in. During his fight, he allowed himself to be defeated without striking back, faking his own death until the winner of the matched was called. Nyx and Hades were obviously infuriated, and they sent some of his Chthonic Division teammates, the Furies, to make him pay for his betrayal. Haros took them down with ease, and as a satisfying result of their infighting the Chthonic Division was disqualified from the competition altogether. Haros and Limbo easily made peace once Limbo realized Haros would never truly betray him, and The Vanquishers were eventually able to win the Hellgames and save Spell-Slinger's soul.



When Blister approached him asking him to help her unbind her soul from the goddess Hecate, Haros dropped everything to train her. Without even telling Limbo about what he was doing, he abandoned Ethan to manage the Lodge on his own to teach Isabelle all about dark magic, the divine aether that gods use to manipulate the world, and the process of soul binding. In doing so, Haros had to confront her with the darkest parts of herself, a form of psychological torture that he was all too happy to inflict upon her. His own desire to get back at the gods for making him an outcast was driving Haros to push Isabelle to lengths that would break most mortals, and although she came through it with success, he found himself frustrated at how willingly he was able to use a mortal for his own goals, a trait he always despised in the other gods.

After breaking Blister into Olympus to forcefully unbind herself from Hecate, and then subsequently restoring magic to the multiverse folowing the Phenomenon that drained it away, Haros and Blister went separate ways. The two of them formed a tight bond that rivals even the one he has with Limbo. Because of his role in helping her, however, the Olympians felt betrayed by Haros's actions. Although saving the multiverse certainly made them willing to move past it, there developed a lingering general distrust of Haros that made him even more of an outsider among the other gods than he already was.

1. Limbo
   Despite frequently appearing annoyed at Ethan's astounding lack of competence, the two have developed a remarkable bond while training and working together. Haros will always answer the call when Ethan needs him. He may be the closest thing to an actual friend Haros has ever had, although he'd never admit it.
2. The Vanquishers
   Although Limbo is Haros' highest priority, all of Limbo's other teammates have proven themselves to be some of Earth's strongest souls. As Haros goes where Limbo goes, they end up assisting the Vanquishers with a lot of their missions, more often than not.
3. Elysian
   As a protector of all afterlives, Haros has frequently worked with the Elysians to help protect Elysium from outside dangers. Raziel, one of the younger Elysians, has felled many monsters and forces of evil alongside Haros in the realm of Limbo over the past few hundred years.
4. Stand-In
   Haros is directly responsible for the creation of one of Limbo's most notorious foes, the body-swapping ghost Stand-In. When asked why they killed Glenn Garrett that day, Haros simply claims that his fate could not be avoided.
5. Slasher
   The malevolent spirit of Mason Pflueger has evaded Haros for quite some time now, thanks to help received from Satan that allows him to evade Haros' detection. Haros believes Slasher deserves to be fed to the ghouls, causing a sort of contention between Haros and Limbo.
6. Osiris
   An immortal god who rules an afterlife called the Duat. Osiris and Haros have a mutual respect formed in battle together against the horde of monsters living beyond the realm of death long before the formation of the Vanquishers, although most of his memories are of an older incarnation of the god. Haros deliberately keeps this information Limbo, who is close friends through the Vanquishers with Aaron, the current incarnation of the Osiris' soul.
7. Blister
   Haros is quite sympathetic to Isabelle because the fellow Hellenic goddess Hecate has claimed her soul, choosing her as a vessel for when the gods are allowed to return to Earth. Her fate is simply to die so that a god may live, and as he hates most gods for exactly that sort of thing, he hopes to interfere somehow with Hecate's goals. When Blister asked him for help in a secret scheme to defy Hecate, Haros agreed. The process of training her has bonded them as strong allies who have seen some of the darkest parts of each other, making her one of few mortals with a close relationship to him. He will always be around to help her if she needs it.