Asmodeus, a throw-away, grumpy boss type character who would be spectacularly killed off in the scene that linked the end of the 1st act to the start of the 2nd, a season finale with a nice cliffhanger. He was supposed to an objectionable being that inspired nothing more than heroism in other characters. He was to be killed off definitively (he is a demon afterall) during the event that brings the groups of Hero characters together towards the end of Act 2.
Not only did Asmodeus himself appear to have other ideas about that but quite a few readers and interested parties agreed with him.
He has drawn a small following and is considered to popular enough to warrant not one but two solo outings. He is a very interesting character though and one needs to look no further than his "Official Portrait" above for reasons why this might be.
Upon seeing a printout of this portrait for the first time, my 4 year old daughter immediately informed me that the image frightened her and that she didn't like the scary man. Other people have later admitted to be unsettled by it. There is definitely something about him that takes us to the uncanny valley or makes us nervous. It is nothing so obvious as the ridges and valleys of scar tissue, the lack of a large chunk of the flesh of his left cheek though. It is something else that people appear unable to put their fingers on.
Consider his introduction in Chronicles of Enoch: Preludes;
...this man has the paleness of one who has simply had all of the blood sucked out of them. He has intense, even piercing eyes which are spaced just a little too far apart, a long nose and sensuous mouth which looks just a little wider than one would feel comfortable with.
He is not exactly ugly but handsome would never be a title given to him by anyone with eyesight. He might even be considered passable were it not for his eyes...
His eyes are spaced just far enough apart to look odd but appear to be in proportion due to their largeness. His mouth is indeed wide enough to give us a somewhat saurian impression of him. He looks young but also has a degree of oldness about him. The boyish curls of his hair, lending him the appearance of the Botticelli angel that he is are contradicted by his eyes and that expression he has...is he about to speak? Is he thinking about some joke or considering a wickness he has committed. The expression itself is unsettling...
Based on the image alone, we want to know more about him.
Allow your wishes to be indulged!
We're going to have to die, Julian...
*****SPOILER ALERT***** *****SPOILER ALERT**********SPOILER ALERT*****
His death and the apparent impossibilty of any form of resurrection was met with disappointment and rage from test readers, which surprised me. Sure, I'd filled him out a bit on his journey but he was still deeply unlikeable, I thought. He was angry, aggressive, vain and self-obsessed, as well as a bit of a misogynist, it appeared. So why did they like him enough to demand - demand I tell you! - his return to the land of the living by any means I can muster?
What makes Asmodeus special?
This is a hard one to define but allow me to share an anecdote of sorts as well as the background to it; Asmodeus has a Twitter account. So does Lucifer and his pet capuchin monkey, Clarence. A few days ago, Lucifer responded to an offhand comment by one of God's (the real one, obviously) numerous social media accounts and Asmodeus, as is his way, made a joke about it. What developed was a what could have been a scene from the weirdest sit-com never written; a scene even the most "herbally inspired" script writer has yet to come up with (unless they did and were politely asked to cease all communication with this and any other studio)...but it worked! People joined in, three completely fictional beings did something very strange; they came to life...
It was Asmodeus' fault. He appears to have a curious knack of both drawing people in and getting them to like him, I cannot honestly say whether he go this from me or not.
This is not the first time something like this has happened. Asmodeus enjoys social media and Lucifer does like being a bit of a troll (unsurprisingly). Back in the heady days of yonder yore before The Chronicles of Enoch were irrevokably banned from Facebook, Asmodeus would occasionally make "guest posts" and the realness of his character was mentioned often.
He reminds me of somebody I used to know
He's interesting and has a lot of depth to him
I like him, he seems more like a real person than a character
Shockingly, several real people (or possibly bots) have gotten into arguments with him over ideology and some frankly rediculous comments he has made. Lucifer often experiences those too, leading to some amusing explanations for the angry commenter. Oddly enough, these folks tend to block me rather than compliment the believability of the character...
It's a funny old world!
Now, there are a number of ways to make a character both believable and relatable, like someone you might feel that you know or may want to. We writers are an observant lot and we love observing people most of all. My favourite passive activity has always been people-watching, I used to (and still do I admit) enjoy making up little stories about particularly interesting people. I think some of those folks have made it into my work, though some friends and relatives may also recognise themselves.
To say I have never put any of myself in a significant character would be a lie, I think we all do that; add a trait we have here, improve another there, give them a trait we wish we had or improve another. Be honest.
With Asmodeus, the trait I decided to give him also adds a depth to his story and character. You see I have an odd talent, I am not good at visualising things but I can do something similar with sounds. I can replay any song that I hear and have enjoyed in my head as if I were listening to it via headphones, I can play little concerts without disturbing anyone else.
I can also listen to my own cover versions, have a favourite singer or singers perform their own version of a popular song; Sympathy for the Devil by Prince, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, and Tina Turner was so good that it would make Mick Jagger cry if he ever heard it.
Which he never will because while this is an interesting talent, it is one that is, on the surface, completely useless because the performance never leaves my head, it is not something I can share with others. I have composed multiple themes for Empyraeum Cycle and Chronicles of Enoch (with vocals) in my imagination only to be plagued with the inability to turn it off as my mind creates some brilliant music I will never be able to reproduce or that would take me days to do so (by which time I'd have forgotten the best bits) ...so, tell me, how is this a "gift" then? I can imagine music I completely lack the ability to reproduce or share with anyone; who said that The Creator doesn't have a sense of humour!
So, maybe I hate Asmodeus and that's why I inflicted him with my malady, he seems to wear it well, perhaps better than I do...
Note: suggestions of names for the aforementioned sit-com, involving Lucifer, Asmodeus, and Clarence as unemployed batchelors living in a loft apartment in New York or similar are welcome as are petitions and so forth. If anyone wants to write it, let's talk!
Comments