CANON UPDATE ☬ INFORMATION ON KRYPTA'S ALTER-EGO "PSEUDO"
pseudo |ˈsoōdō|
adjective
1 not genuine; sham : we are talking about real journalists and not the pseudo kind.
2 intellectually or socially pretentious; imposter: a person who makes deceitful pretenses
3 supposed or purporting to be but not really so; false; not genuine : pseudonym | pseudoscience.
4 resembling or imitating : pseudohallucination | pseudo-French.
ORIGIN late Middle English : independent use of pseudo- .
"I've spent an eternity in this dreadful shell- let's have a little fun and play cat and mouse~ First one to get their hand through the other's heart wins."
Pseudo (full name 'Pseudoranei') is the demon found within both Krypta's and D'vegmir's bonded soul. Once a general and angel slayer within the top ranks of Hell's army, she's now nothing more than the shadow of the figure she once was, deluded and only believing once she justifies her madness, things will be all right to let go.
While it's easy to confuse her as an alternate form of the two combined, Pseudo's hardly anything like it.
The thing about Krypta is that her possession is special; her Hell's got normal possessions all the time, but it also has other ones made for specific people called "Spirit Holders." Spirit Holders are bonded to a Spirit Dweller's soul- basically a demon that's died already, and is being given another chance at a life with an actual body. In the bonding process, two souls are attached to the human body- one an apparent dominant personality and one dormant. The dominant takes over the body quickly and with force, making most humans easily goners and puppets inside their own shell as they become possessed. The dormant and underlying spirit lies in wait, slowly and surely taking over both the human and the dominant demon's soul, and when the full-blown invasion of Hell occurs, that dormant soul mauls down both spirits and takes over.
From there, it's malicious intent and pure killer instinct. All downhill from civil socialization.
Pseudo's mind consists mostly of "destroy, kill, have fun and play with humans, LET'S FUCK UP HUMANITY oh and btdubs KILLING ALL YOUR ANGELS FOREVER 8D". Her mind is far from stable, she doesn't give a shit about anyone (even dying doesn't phase her, since she hates Krypta), and as long as she can find something to kill, then things are okay.
Which basically means once it's dead, she's bored. OBVIOUSLY SHE HAS ISSUES WITH BEING ENTERTAINED. Essentially nothing is good enough for her- since being betrayed by Abelloros destroyed her fame and honor as a general, it's left her with only bitterness and a desire for vengeance. And that vengeance will never be satisfied, because she's clung onto it for centuries to the point of where it's burned into her mind and destroyed any sense of honor or semblance of sanity.
Krypta may mention hearing voices in her mind at times- voices that sound like her own, only dark and more sinister. You might even hear Pseudo speaking through Teneka if it gets really bad.
There's several stages in the breaking down of Krypta's mental stability and the release of her inner demon. Obviously because her body was technically dead when the invasion of Hell started, this bypassed the original intent to overtake the girl in the first place.
1. There's a noticeable change in how she talks. When fighting against any chance to lose herself, she's exceptionally quiet, and doesn't loudmouth anyone like she usually does. She's also prone to snapping at people and yelling or shouting in random bouts of anger that come sporadically. Apologies will follow, and an explanation of how she doesn't feel well, but other than that, she won't say much.
2. Her temper is a lot toned down after her canon update, but that doesn't mean she isn't capable of outbursts or yelling sessions. But in light of having herself killed and such, her outlook on a lot of things is that of a more mature perspective. As a result, most things? She buries them, more so than usual. Anything she buries and remains silent about only feeds the twisting ball of anger and hate and rage that is Pseudo.
Think of it this way- if Krypta's emotional and acts like it openly, Pseudo gets no bonus stats/additional power. But if Krypta does lock it in and keep it away behind a serious face, it only adds to Pseudo's strength when she takes over. Several instances are the reason why Pseudo is a fucking tank when she's released-
a. The summoning ritual. Krypta mostly stayed quiet after the first few days of shock were over, though the idea and everything still tormented her.
b. The death/massacre of her family, left out in the open when she returned home after a few days. She kept the pain of finding them all dead in herself, so she wouldn't break down out of nowhere. It was hard living like that, and it became even worse before she met Nick.
c. The first time she killed a human. She faced it with shaking hands and a trembling lip, but she forced back down any emotions or feelings of retching right then and there.
d. Her friends all forgetting her after the ritual. When she escaped with the process only half-done, the demons used several magical ailments to affect the people she was close to. As a result, no one remembered who she was or her face, leaving her alone to deal with the invasion, by herself. There were several times she came close to giving up.
e. The countless times Nick went and beat her in sparring. Though it was more friendly than anything, the drive and frustration to best him at everything also nestled as anger and jealousy at all the power he held so easily and quickly.
f. The jobs in which her faith in humanity and trust in others dwindled and became partially non-existent. She trusts people openly and easily, and to break that trust hurts a hell of a lot, of which she usually buries underneath with a look of anger and moves on.
g. The killings of several people she knew, including her best friend, by her hands. There are no words to describe how she felt when it happened.
h. Nick's betrayal. This is a big one. Since it was on her 22nd birthday, that was like a blow to the gut. Add on to the fact that they were engaged, he was the love of her life, he was the only one who really knew what she was going through and the one who she put the most trust into- and you've got the major end of Pseudo's power. That driving edge of hate, betrayal, and vengeance is what gives the demon half the equivalent of a small atomic bomb going off in NYC.
3. Her death. While she may not talk about it much, it bugs the shit out of her like no one's business. How easy it was for someone to kill her, and not only that, it was someone she trusted. This leads to her being more careful in who she trusts and not very open to people like she was before.
4. Having to walk among the demons who turned her city into Hell on Earth, literally. While most wore their original form, a few are like her and remain in human shape. That doesn't stop the anger she has and the hate at Nick for ruining and destroying so many people's lives. The fact that she runs across two or three bottomless pits where demons throw useless humans or leftover corpses into it for fun only makes this anger (and Pseudo's nature and stats) grow.
There's a general fear when it comes to her other side. She might try to bury it, but Krypta has no idea what the voice inside her is, so she has no idea on how to face it. If she describes it to anyone, all she can say is that it's herself, but gone horribly wrong, animalistic, terrifying, more hating of things in the world. Oftentimes, if she's in a fit of trouble, or the demon is trying to take over, she'll have conversations with herself. Things along the line of "shut up, no it's not real, get out, etc. etc." Maiming and hurting her own body to get the voice to shut up are not out of the question, either. As long as she can heal, it doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, when it gets to that point, it usually means she's lost already. From there it just gets more painful.
Pseudo isn't easy to recognize at first, during Krypta's transformation. It's not amazingly quick, but not slow as hell, either. If anything, the slurred speech is a giveaway that something's off, and when Krypta starts coughing up blood, it's a bad sign. Next come the scales and skin breaking through her own, which means she's bleeding everywhere and can't talk, due to... lol well if you're coughing up blood and slurring your speech, you'd have a hard time dictating what was said too. After that's all done, out come the spikes, and that's when she starts screaming. Because those come pushing out of her skin from the inside, and yeah, that hurts. If she can still speak during this, it's a half-thought, because she's caught between being in pain, being torn apart inside (mentally), and having herself being thrown into a mental cage of chains and shoved under her new subconscious. Coherent sentences are mostly "go," "run," "hurt," "coming," "get out," and/or "kill you." From there her body jerks violently, uncontrollably- it looks like she's having a seizure and dying. Eyes roll to the top of her head, lids close, she stops breathing, and stops moving altogether.
Unfortunately, it's all a ruse- Pseudo's been in control for a while, and acts vulnerable and in a state of a coma just to lure people in. Which then just follows with a sudden opening of the eyes (red eyes, I may add, pupils and irises can still be seen but the eye as a whole is red) and a quick impale through the gut.
Pseudo's nature is much like a warrior with a side of seductress. She has honor, she has valor- but she won't show it to you unless you prove yourself in battle. And most of the time? She won't show it because people aren't "good enough." For her, fighting is everything and the only thing she can do now. Vengeance has rotted her so far that any kind of redemption or salvation into her previous state, she scowls at. And if she knows you and your tactics through Krypta, she can assess whether or not you're worth fighting already.
Basically saying, if she knows you're stronger than her, she won't be stupid. She'll just hightail it out of there. While she does hate the host she's in, that doesn't mean she wants to die right away- she's not the kind to kick a gift horse in the mouth.
The angel slayer mocks, teases, lies, does whatever she can to get her way. And the longer she's out, the more she remembers she can do, fighting-wise. That's not to say she can actually do it, because of the humanity left in Krypta's heart and soul prevents her from fully using her body as a weapon, as she intends (and how she used to fight). It's difficult to reach the girl inside by any means, because Pseudo locks her away by several layers, until she can barely hear anything of the outside world.
That's not to say she's unbeatable. She's far from it. But Pseudo is backed by any emotions Krypta has kept within herself, and seeing as she's been burying a lot for five years, iiiiiit's going to be a very tough fight.
This is what you can expect to see, move-wise, if you encounter her:
WRATH OF HILDREGNAR - Known as the "Legendary Killer," Admiral Hildregnar is the model and head example of a hero amongst angel slayers. In Pseudo's Hell, he was known to wear armor from head to toe, and brought fear into the hearts of anyone who crossed him, be it demon or angel. He was known to take hordes of angelic fighters head on, and come out alive with trophies attached. As time passed, he began teaching and instilling his rigorous training in others, creating the first angel slayers.
Any and all who survive the training as well as the initiation are given full rights to learn this wrath and the powers that come with it.
Within this wrath there are several important things to note- as the proper use of the gift includes a formidable offense as well as where demons lacked defense before.
- Hildregnar's wrath, when fully used, allows angel slayers to become immune to holy objects, angelic auras, and any objects that have smiting/holy/angelic are pretty much null. However, anything involving light or good, that's man-made or something similar, still does do damage (and quite a lot if you use it well)
- With the training that comes after the initiation, angel slayers know just about every prayer said in battle, and a way to counteract it. This does not mean she'll know different versions of Heaven or Hell's, and counteracting takes a bit of time if you don't know what you're doing
- As a result of all this, the slayer creates their own aura that shields themselves as well as affects those around them. Depending on their experience and how long they've been in service, it varies on how strong it can be. Most soldier-level slayers can have as much as four strengths to it, but with those higher in ranks comes a heavier and stronger strength. The higher it went, the more dangerous it was to be around the slayer.
In Pseudo's prime, she could hoist her level up to eight times. On the eighth level it was known to crush small-time angels and effectively immobilize a good deal of the crew that came against her. High archangels and the like were usually unaffected by it, and heavenly beings also belonged in this number.
Despite having the capability of going so high, she hardly ever used it, and if she did, it would effectively wipe her out much quicker than a normal level aura would.
In order, the level went as such:
• Level one: Fear [Low level]
• Level two: Numbness
• Level three: Paralyzation [Normal level - lower slayers]
• Level four: Blindness [Normal level - higher slayers]
• Level five: Deafness
• Level six: Internal crushing of organs
• Level seven: Hysteria and loss of sanity
• Level eight: Death (instantaneous for smaller-level angelic/heavenly beings) [High level]
This was all possible when Pseudo was Pseudoranei, so as a shadow of herself, she cannot go anywhere near as high as before (possibly level four if she really tried, but again, she'd have to really focus/have time). Also, this aura only affects heavenly/angelic beings. Humans may feel pressure, but no ailments.
EXPERT PYROKENESIS/HELLFIRE - With Krypta comes the trained and advanced knowing of how to handle fire. From lighting a simple flame in her hand, to blowing things up with a flick of the wrist, she can do it. However, it takes a good bit of concentration in order to do so, which is why if she fights, she makes sure it's something she has time for.
When it comes to Pseudo, however... since being born a full-fledged demon from the start, creating and working with fire is like breathing to her. So anything Krypta can do, she can essentially think it, and it happens. She also has the capability of handling something known as Hellfire in her world. Hellfire is extremely hard to control or manipulate- mostly due to its hellish nature, and also the fact that it burned so hot it could scald demons, especially if it was misused. Add in the fact that it keeps burning forever and you've got a dangerous weapon that can easily harm more than hinder if left unguarded.