Silver Zodiac

A young and conflicted demon that is generally a good person but is forced to do what he considers are terrible things in order to survive.

Altaire has an athletic build, but slightly on the lithe side while younger. He has very fair skin and is generally comfortable with his looks. He is left-handed. Although he hides it under his sleeves, his right arm is scarred all over from cutting.

Altaire wears a helmet as Silver Zodiac to hide his identity. He is also well-armoured with a metal chest plate, bracers, and boots. He wears a utility belt around his waist. His scarf bears his father's clan symbol.

As a civilian, he is a casual but stylish lad. He enjoys the comfort of hoodies, loafers, and pants that are not too loose. Scarves are nice accessories for him and he likes choosing from a variety of colours to suit his mood.

General Personality
Alignment: LNI - Lawful-Neutral-Impartial: The Master

(tendency to go utilitarian and good, the Philanthropist)

He comes off as mysterious but honest. He's pretty laid back and philosophical in outlook, but most people can tell there's some emotional conflict beneath that. He's a self-proclaimed romantic and idealist. He's flexible in that he will try to change his personality to the liking of his company (he will be more seductive, or open to silliness, or serious). On the other hand, he is stubborn with his beliefs and has a high tendency for independence (aka will leave and do his own thing if pressed). He tries to keep himself out of the spotlight and doesn't like a lot of attention, although he will volunteer for good causes (like maybe a lung cancer run, or a soup kitchen).

He's a good person at heart that feels compelled to do bad things: an anti-villain.


 * Good Traits:

friendly, empathetic, has a good sense of right and wrong, will do the right thing if he can, intelligent, charming, can sing and dance well


 * Bad Traits:

depressed, suicidal and self-harming, distrustful of himself and others, tries to keep distance from others, feels he's not fit for redemption, thinks himself a coward for not being able to end his own life, deeply conflicted, is a heartbreaker (breaks the hearts of others and himself constantly), rarely asks for help even if he needs it


 * Quirks:

likes writing notes to himself--keeps a notepad around and lots of sticky-notes on things, likes doing things while doing things (eating while reading a recipe, washing hands while prepping to clean, watching a trailer before seeing a movie lol), weakness for sweetness (includes food and people!), can't swim well (though can float and doggy paddle)

Hopes

 * One day redeeming himself, as impossible as it may seem. To one day love and be loved in return without any guilt or shame. Finding a way to not have to steal souls.

Fears

 * dying, losing touch with morality, losing his mind or losing control completely, falling in love and ruining that person

Memorable Quote(s)

 * Are you sure you're cut out to be a super hero?
 * Today's not the day.
 * I get by.

Family

 * Mother: Nuraj Adhir (alive); very strained relationship
 * Father: Sen Niryo (deceased)
 * Sibling(s): none
 * Other:
 * Asuraj Adhir: maternal grandmother; very strained relationship
 * Coman Nader (Black Coma): cousin; very strained relationship
 * Jericho Adhir (Ash Trojan): cousin; very strained relationship
 * Rammey Amar (Red Flare): cousin once removed; very strained relationship

Friends

 * Solar Cat: develops a friendship with Solar Cat as Altaire, as she approaches and tries to help him get through one of his emotional spirals, but later distances himself from her when she finds out he is Silver Zodiac
 * Fafnr (Space Girl: develops somewhat of a friendship or admiration of her with her when she stops him from committing suicide
 * Florencia (Zenith): develops a friendship with her after seeing her hanging around a candy store he comes to often, later begins dating her. Their relationship ends a few months later, but they remain on friendly terms and are supportive of one another
 * Arkos: out of necessity, develops a business relationship with her that grows into somewhat of a friendship where they mutually use one another
 * although he is generally friendly and makes friends easily, he quickly distances himself and ends friendships if he feels they are getting too close to something significant

Enemies

 * Coman Nader (Black Coma): very strained relationship which sometimes turns to physical violence. Altaire greatly resents Coman's aggressive, draconian, and cruel personality
 * Jericho Adhir (Ash Trojan): very strained relationship which sometimes turns to physical violence. Their relationship has never been very close, and Altaire thinks of Jericho more as Coman's lackey
 * Rammey Amar (Red Flare): very strained relationship which sometimes turns to physical violence. Altaire regrets that Rammey has some misguided resentment and jealousy toward him
 * other succubae and incubi as many dislike his disrespect of his heritage
 * demon hunters
 * generally had made a number of enemies among both heroes and other villains

Other Notable Relationships

 * Seiren (Black Seiren): somewhat of a friendly business relationship with him and will ask him for help in metaphysical matters
 * Greyson (Ripchord): Altaire in costume as Silver Zodiac is in an attempted mugging by Greyson until Altaire diffuses the situation by throwing Greyson's can opener away. Altaire tries to initiate a friendly truce with Greyson by purchasing food for him. Their relationship is shaky at best. Greyson's trust is broken when Altaire loses control in his demon form and attempts to rape Greyson. Greyson from then on considers Altaire an enemy. Altaire acquiesces by trying to remain distant and avoiding him from then on.

Love Interest
He had a girlfriend in his past, but that relationship ended tragically and traumatized him from forming future relationships. He now has many off-and-on ones that end rather quickly.

He is bisexual, but he prefers females since he's had more than a few bad experiences with older males. He generally prefers sweet, cute girls and pretty, cute males.


 * Past:


 * Allie: Altaire and Allie had a very strong romantic relationship (2009), but under pressure from his cousins, their relationship caused one another great stress as well. Allie's mental health deteriorated under the constant harassment, and she clung closer to Altaire in response. However, Altaire one day lost control, and Allie's loyalty and closeness made her a target for him. She ended up in a coma for months, and Altaire stayed away from Allie from then on. When she finally came out of it, she was severely disabled. This coupled with the mental toll on her led her to end her life, which his cousins reported to him and mocked him for. Altaire has since been traumatized by the experience.


 * Current:


 * Ezra Kalliope: Altaire believes he has a hug celebrity crush on Ezra and is somewhat starstruck by him. They later start dating and even begin a romantic relationship (2010), but Altaire's insecurities and guilt eventually cause him to distance himself from Ezra and break up with him after a month. Altaire continues to have feelings for Ezra over the span of the next four years, and they begin their relationship again (2015).
 * Fafnr: after she prevented Altaire form ending his life, his admiration for her developed into a crush on her
 * Florencia: Altaire develops a friendship and crush on Cia. A few months later, they begin dating (2012). Half a year later, under pressure from Kat, Altaire and Cia decide to break up (2013), but they maintain an amicable and supportive friendship, although it is somewhat distant for her own safety.
 * Arkos: Altaire and Arkos have a physical relationship where they use each other sexually out of necessity (2013). Altaire stops using Arkos for these means when he leaves Gotham to escape Coman's influence (2016).
 * Heimdl: (not part of SGPA canon) Altaire and Heimdl have an on-again-off-again type of relationship that confuses Altaire's idealistic sensibilities greatly; the relationship is often very turbulent

Powers & Skills
His abilities are both skill-based and magic-based. Altaire has been raised all his life to hunt down prey and evade being hunted. His demonic heritage grants him super-human abilities, though because he keeps himself near starvation spiritually, he is very limited in power.

Parkour Artist: It's the art of using his body and the environment itself to quickly move around the environment and overcome all sorts of obstacles. There's a bunch of climbing, jumping, vaulting, running, rolling, and wall-scaling involved.
 * PROS:
 * gets around urban areas quickly and efficiently. Able to evade and ambush enemies instinctively.


 * CONS:
 * none come to mind besides using up energy. There's a possibility of body injury, but that's minimal given his training.

Magic Enhanced Speed and Jumps: Silver Zodiac can use his mana reserves to give him more speed, agility, and jumping power.
 * PROS:
 * run even faster, jump very far and high that would be impossible for humans (like leap 2-3 stories easily). Enhances all fighting and evasion abilities.


 * CONS:
 * drains mana reserves over time, which he needs to live. He usually won't use it for longer than 2 minutes. Let's say every 5 minutes is another victim he will need to stock up his reserves. Running low on mana will put him at risk of losing control of himself.

Spiritual Drain: drains mana reserves over time, which he needs to live. He usually won't use it for longer than 2 minutes. Let's say every 5 minutes is another victim he will need to stock up his reserves. Running low on mana will put him at risk of losing control of himself.
 * PROS:
 * Recharges mana reserves. Incapacitates victim (victim usually ends up unconscious or in a coma for at least a few days).


 * CONS:
 * Sexual assault required (there's a lot of complicated reasons for this, but just know that this is the only thing that works for incubi). Damages the victim. Best sources are innocent or morally upstanding victims as this is a polar opposite to general demon/incubi nature (more contrast = more power). It's hard to find quality sources, and he is very troubled by it.

OTHER MAGIC: Side note: as a demon, he has access to all kinds of magical skills such as mind control/seduction, demonic aura blasts, flight, etc. He actually has high affinity and skill for magic. However, because he keeps his mana reserves so low due to his moral conflict over needing victims in the first place, he cannot use any of these advanced skills. Lucky for us!

Weapons
none

Other Equipment
He has magic-enhanced armour that was commissioned by his mother to protect him against heavy physical injury. One notable piece is his helmet that has slots for his wings to emerge into should he be running low on mana. He generally also carries paper, a notepad, or sticky notes and a writing implement to make notes for himself and check off lists. as a way to ground himself.

Fighting Style
fast, flexible, and evasive. It's hard to land a hit on him or keep him to one spot.


 * Strengths:

He's fast, and he can be a team player if he's on one. Generally has a quick recovery/healing rate due to his heritage.


 * Weaknesses: 

Instincts will often get the better of him, such as attacking an ally or victim without thinking. He can't fight for a long time for fear that he will need to find more victims to recharge himself, so he will leave the battle if he can, est he risk going berserk.

Altaire's mother, Nuraj Adhir, was a succubus that seduced his father, Sen Niryo, while being disguised as a regular woman. Incubi and succubae are very similar to vampires when they are young, in that they feed off blood until they hit puberty. Altaire's mother successfully convinced his father (probably through some mind control) to let his son feed on his blood to keep Altaire alive. This kept his father constantly crippled, but it seemed like his father was glad to do it for Altaire. They otherwise lived as a family together (dysfunctional, as Nuraj had to go out seducing men for energy and Sen stayed crippled.. but still..).

Eventually the rest of his father's clan found out that he was harbouring demons, and while Altaire and his mother ran off, his father was left behind to be executed. Altaire's mother continued to raise him in a succubus brood in North America, bringing him victims. He was also trained to find his own prey and use his demonic powers to survive along with his cousins Coman, Jericho, and [[Red Flare|Rammey]. This was very harsh and traumatic training for him, especially compared to the less awful first 8 years of his life.

When incubi mature and hit puberty, their metabolism changes and blood is no longer high enough in quality or dense enough in energy to nourish them. This is when their diet changes to needing spiritual energy through sexual assault. Altaire quickly grew a distaste for this, as he compared his willing father to these unwilling innocents.

At 14, sick of himself and his brethren, he left the brood and cut off ties with his family. He struggled to find willing victims, so he was forced to get many unwilling ones. His conscience weighed heavily on him, so much so that he questioned his right to exist, but he inevitably found his next victim and the cycle continued. Since that time, it had gotten easier for Altaire to find willing victims as he aged and became more attractive. He has had some success selling his body to pay for living expenses. He currently lives on his own in a condo apartment in Gotham.

While not hunting for victims or drowning in self-hatred or despair, Altaire tries to enjoy his life as a young man by going to movies, eating at restaurants, and going to arcades or amusement parks or the beach, even if it's alone. Thanks to his natural good looks and charm, he's often not alone for long.

He has had a couple of run-ins with Solar Cat and Dysta, and has ended up confusing them about what side he is really on.

Villainous Motivations:

He is forced to be a villain due to his heritage. He's an incubus, a demon that thrives on assaulting and draining victims of their spiritual energy. He doesn't enjoy the fact that he does this against people's wills, even if it's to survive. If he didn't do this though, he'd risk going insane or dying. Dying means leaving his husk behind for other demon spirits to possess and use anyway. His "family" (incubi and succubae brethren) have coerced him into many crimes in the past, so he's marked as a villain.

At moderate levels of mana/spiritual starvation, bat/dragon wings emerge from the sides of his head, and pain and hunger for spiritual energy starts. At critical levels, his pores begin sweating blood and he looks like a typical red, ugly demon. His mental state keeps deteriorating until he acts on pure instinct to survive (like a true demon).

He doesn't want to die, and he doesn't want to become a full demon and lose his moral compass, so he finds victims to momentarily quench the hunger.

TRIVIA