Dragon
Name:
Animus Careo ('Without Soul', I think, though I don't claim to have any knowledge of Latin. :P Hey, at least it's not Google Translate.)
Age:
404,500
Appearance in dragon form: (Careful before you open the picture, it's pretty bloody big)
Animus looks similar to this, though his jaw doesn't jut out in the same way and his snout is generally more elongated. Also, his front paws are larger and more hand-like.
Red and black and spiky as anything, Animus is very imposing, even for a dragon. His scales are more like plates; tough, rigid things that form into spikes at the end like arrowheads, pointing towards his tail end. He is a large, yet quite streamlined dragon with eyes of magma and a deep, thunderous voice that sounds as though it could send even the bravest of men crying to their mothers. His claws are perhaps his most notable feature – massive rakes which hold behind them enormous physical power. Truly, he looks like something spawned from the depths of Hell itself.
Appearance in human form:
Animus' 'human form' isn't as human as he would like, at least in terms of stealth. He appears as a fairly tall, though scrawny, young Caucasian man with delicate features, deep blue eyes and messy black hair. His mouth and nose, however, have taken on more of a snout-like appearance, and his mouth hides vicious serrated teeth. His fingers and toes, also, are more like claws, in truth, and are very large for a human.
Animus Careo's fearsome appearance as a dragon certainly carries over when he transforms. Not from his features, though, no – for several centuries, now, Animus has started to take a liking to his human form. Whenever he slew humans, he would scavenge their bodies for impressive armour, and thus, he now has in his possession a rather imposing suit of platemail. As much as his features make it fairly obvious that he isn't human, he is definitely human in shape, and so the armour he wears, in the act of covering all of said features, hides his draconic nature. The armour is heavy, with many interlocking plates and various spikes or horns extending from the shoulders or elbows. The metal is plain and dark, blackened by dragon's fire. He wears a slightly tattered black cape and carries a great sword on his back, similarly coloured. Animus still looks like a terrifying warlord of some kind, but at least he looks like a terrifying human warlord.
History:
As a child, Animus was a quiet and kind little dragon. Being faced with him now certainly wouldn't give that impression, but never the less, it was the truth. Even as a hatchling, his appearance was somewhat frightening and his claws were larger than usual, but that was counteracted by his politeness and humility. That, however, was millennia ago – the years changed Animus, though no-one really knows why. At any rate, his general childhood was as much as you could say for any dragon. It was when his skills began to develop that he began to make more differential ground.
Animus' greatest fighting strength was his claws – that was no surprise to anyone. What was a surprise to fellow dragons was when he began developing powers to use in conjunction with the massive strength his claws already held. Rather than offensive, elemental and ranged powers, as tended to be the norm with dragons, Animus was content with defensive powers and enhancements for power he already held physically. The black dragon was developing techniques that implemented tactics and a defense/offense balance, rather than simply an all-out berserk attack, as one might expect from someone with claws that allowed them to do so.
The most interesting part of the dragon's life, he would say, has been in the last few centuries. Humans were almost like playthings for Animus – well, maybe not playthings as such, more like a hive of ants outside your house that are really intelligent and interesting and like humans. That… wasn't a great explanation. They were something to watch, though, and something to occasionally get involved in. 'Involved in' generally meaning that he would kill a load of them. It was boredom that really drove Animus to assume human form, though unfortunately it wasn't as 'human' as he'd wanted it to be – still, after a few scavenged plates from a few slaughtered armies, he had a very nice suit of armour that he could use at his wish, and he supposed he appeared human enough in it. He roamed the human lands for a while, watching from a distance, observing their culture and occasionally slaying anyone who dared to get in his way. Their concept of villainy was interesting to him – granted, it was more-or-less the same as that of the dragons', but it had something a little… more. A bit of grandeur. And… backing music. Backing music was definitely something.
Nowadays, Animus isn't openly worried about the dragon slayers, though he knows that his acts of villainy would probably set him out as a bigger target. That said, his more recent exploits were almost all in human form, and often more simply horrifying than actually villainous. Animus has earned something of a name for himself as 'The Black Reaper', a fearsome and mysterious knight who slaughters bandits and devours their souls. Come to think of it, he's probably helped in cutting down on crime...
Personality:
Animus Careo is a dragon who is obsessed with the idea of being evil, though it doesn't always come across in practice. Most of the time he is the epitome of a villain, with a love of death, destruction and general chaos that is difficult to match. He will often preach about consuming souls, crushing things under his might or rending so-and-so's flesh from their bones. He is fearsome, ruthless and merciless, a monster beyond reason... or so it seems. The persona Animus has taken on is more of a hobby, if anything, or an act – the only thing is, he just so happens to be in-character almost all of the time. He lapses sometimes with occasional inability to take himself, or the situation, seriously – this often leads to a somewhat confused or sarcastic remark, and generally a far friendlier tone.
It's in these moments that it has occurred to some to think that he is simply playing the villain for his own amusement. Though there's no doubt that he must indeed be slightly, nay, very sadistic, what with the way he kills and his ability to pull off such a convincing act, it's the opinion of some that he isn't quite so thoroughly entrenched in being pure evil. He's trying, certainly, there's no doubt about that, but there seems to be a decent amount of evidence that it's not all he thinks about. When a lot of the things he does are analysed, they become oddly… heroic. Sure, he dropped in from the skies and slaughtered an entire army, then ripped out the heart of their leader and consumed his soul. But the army
was just about to raid a small, defenceless village. Did he know about that? Maybe, maybe not, only Animus knows for sure.
In terms of positive feelings, Animus is generally more prone to lapsing out of his evil persona when he either likes or respects a person. This tends to be around either friends or powerful enemies, which are often not so detached from one another. In either case, it's a dramatic change, often being somewhat complimentary and humourous – bubbly, even. It should also be noted that, although his regular persona does indeed appear evil on most accounts, it isn't entirely despicable. With Animus' main focus being on murder, slaughter and the like, he isn't too bothered with petty nastiness. He has bigger fish to fry.
All-in-all, Animus Careo has been considered insane by many, in more than a few different ways. He is determined to play the villain, but is prone to strange outbursts of bubbliness.
Powers/Abilities:
Minor telekinesis, minor fear control and greater alteration. And some 'meh' skills with fire-breathing, since he has it but never cared for it much. Animus' powers aren't so much geared towards being offensive in and of themselves, so much as they are about affecting how he would battle normally. He has minor telekinetic powers which do little other than allow him mild conveniences, as well as the ability to make weaker opponents feel truly helpless. This ties in with the dragon's passive power over fear – he generally emits an aura of terror, though stronger minds are generally unaffected. Animus focuses on alteration, temporarily creating shields of energy with varying protective properties or imbuing his claws with flames, acid, soul-draining properties and the like. He's also very good at roaring, if that counts.
Other:
Likes organs and grand pianos, that he enjoys to play telekinetically, and Zweihänders. Is slightly afraid of wasps, though he mistakenly refers to them as 'bees'. Oddly enough, he's fine with bees. Apparently he thinks wasps are just some other kind of bee.