Hymnal
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Hymnal | |
| Player: | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Corruptor |
| Threat Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Unknown |
| Known Aliases: | The Tenor of Terror |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | Early 20's |
| Height: | 5'10 |
| Weight: | around 185 |
| Eye Color: | Pale |
| Hair Color: | Light |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Villain |
| Place of Birth: | Baumton |
| Base of Operations: | Rogue Isles |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | All presumed dead |
| Known Powers | |
| Uses sound waves as weapons, emits radiation for a variety of purposes | |
| Known Abilities | |
| ' | |
| Equipment | |
| ' | |
| ' | |
There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Proverbs 6:16-19
Contents |
Early Life
Not all that long ago, 2001 to be exact, in an affluent section of the Baumton neighborhood of Paragon City lived a boy who had what many called a voice of an angel. Those folks thought they were being clever, as this boy sang in the local church choir. In fact, singing in the church choir was more than an activity for this boy, it was a source of happiness. As what happens when you combine love an activity with talent for it, the boy became very accomplished. So much so, he was chosen to sing a solo at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Everyone was so proud of the boy, and more so, everyone was excited to hear his singing, as many felt the sound his voice brought them closer to God. Midnight came on Christmas Eve - the boy was in his finest suit, and in excellent voice. He had taken the steps to prepare it to sound the best it could.
Mutation
In many stories such as this, a horrible embarrassment occurs, such as, the boy's voice cracks and begins to change as he sings. This story has something similar, albeit, a bit more tragic than a simple voice cracking. The boy's voice did change - as it turned out, the boy was a mutant. Unfortunately for him, his voice no longer sounded like that of an angel, it now can be used as a weapon. Unfortunately for everyone else, they were correct - he would bring the closer to God. Unfortunate in that it was in the final sense, as he had a secondary mutation which manifested itself as a radioactive explosion that killed everyone else present.
Early Criminal Career
The crushing guilt of killing just about everyone he knew, and his severe appearance change caused the boy to have a psychotic break from reality. Taking the name Hymnal as an ironic gesture, the boy only sought only to spread misery and strife. As his initial crime spree occurred during the first Rikti invasion, he was able to remain at large for quite some time despite being both a novice, and being blinded by rage. However, after the invasion ended his violent spree was eventually quelled by a collection of heroes, and he was sent to the Zig, where he remained for 5 years.
Jailbreak!
As a part of Operation Destiny, Arachnos attacked the Zig, allowing for numerous prisoners to escape. One of these was Hymnal, who broke out in Mid-2008. He had spent 5 years locked down mostly in solitary confinement, as he taken to playing the various gangs against each other, for no reason beyond his own amusement.
Freelance work
After making a daring escape, Hymnal started working as a freelance in the Rogue Isles. He did freelance work for Arachnos, and still is on good terms with Ghost Widow, having uncovered a plot against her, and later coming to her rescue from Longbow. He also worked with a shadowy collective known as Assassin Pact, carrying out an occasional hit when the situation required a show of cruelty, and carnage. He also did some work for the Midnight Club - mostly because he thought Ashley McKnight was on the cute side.
The Supreme Society
Hymnal eventually decided it was time for him to hit the big time. To do so, he joined up with the mysterious Supreme Society He's used his time as a part of the Society to hone his villainous craft, learning the finer parts of creating mayhem from some of the more experienced villains. He and BlueRevenant seem to have a mutual animosity towards one another, with BlueRevenant needing to be restrained from attacking Hymnal on one occasion. Being immersed in an organization that has goals beyond "paint the world red" seems to have had an effect on Hymnal, as he started to again display a mind for manipulating situations to his benefit and to that of the Society. He seems to specialize in playing two parties against each other. Due to this, and also an internal power struggle, Hymnal has been able to rise in rank in the Society, and is now one of the highest ranking members. He is chief interrogator of the Society. Rest assured, his interrogation methods would violate the Geneva Convention.
Framing The Global Guard
With the upstart hero group The Global Guard attempting to bring the Society to justice, Hymnal hatched a plan to turn other hero groups against the Guard. His plan is to essentially frame Star Scion as a Rikti operative, and the other members of the Guard as either co-conspirers or naive tools. To accomplish this, he has set out to join the Vanguard, seeking raids consisting mostly of heroes, inorder to increase his credibility in regards to matter of the Rikti. Whether this scheme will work is unknown. Hymnal feels that if it doesn't - they can always handle the Guard the old fashioned way.
Aria Force and the Destine Academy
In an attempt to bolster their numbers, the Supreme Society ransacked a private school for meta-human teenagers called the Destine Academy. One of the students that was captured was a girl named Aria Force. With sonic abilities similar to his own, Aria was of particular interest to Hymnal. Being from a famous, yet disfunctional family, Aria was soon charmed into considering his offer to join the Supreme Society. Having been a captive for months, with no sign of even an attempted rescue, Hymnal was able to ultimately win her over to the Society by convincing her that he was offering her freedom from a life of unwanted obligations and pressures. With Hymnal's sponsorship, Aria is now an full fledged member of the Supreme Society. While their relationship began as captor and captive, moved to mentor and student - it has now morphed into what appears to be a romantic relationship.
Personality
Hymnal had been known to occasionally recite or make a reference to some religious scripture as he is committing an amoral act, but it was seemingly done mostly to taunt and frustrate his victims or those who wish to stop him. Recently, he's been making less religious references, though he still has a penchant for mocking those around him. His prison psychiatrist suggested that he still has underlying guilt about the Christmas Eve Massacre - as he has been known to not only heal other villains he occasionally works with, but even restore life to those that have fallen. The psychiatrist also thought Hymnal was redeemable. Unfortunately, the psychiatrist was killed during Hymnal's daring escape from the Zig. At this point, no one is sure if the healing is due to guilt, or something more pragmatic, and Hymnal isn't the sort of character who sits down for interviews. Recently, the late Doctor North recovered the psychiatrist's files and after analyzing them himself, came to this conclusion in regards to Hymnal:
"Hymnal is walking psychotic disease. He spreads psychosis, corruption and human suffering as surely as the rat delivers the plague. This is why it is not enough to judge the man himself – but rather judge his work. He treats the entire world like a dark opera – and he intends to see that poem end with as much pain, bloodshed and suffering as possible. He will *ruin* us – all of us – just as surely as he himself is ruined. …destruction is too clean and quick for Hymnal. He wants suffering, most of all he wants corruption and ruin. He wants the world to be robbed of everything that is beautiful, bright and brimming with hope. He wants it brought down into a dark operatic sewer. He wants the world to sing a tale of ruin. He’d rather watch you kill someone than kill someone himself. Why? Because he knows how your act will riddle you with guilt, and condemn you to a life of moral anguish. He delights in the dual-edged sword of corrupting others…you beget the evil of those you corrupt; and you beget the suffering of their victims. He sees evil as a disease, a beautiful poetic disease, that he himself can architect and shape to his whim. He will ruin everything, if left unchecked. He will paint it all black, then paint it again with blood of innocents, then make slaves wash that blood with brushes made from human hair – then he will convince an arsonist to burn the slaves alive. Each new chapter ruins the work done before, and each new layer is inspired by him alone. It is all part of his dark opus. He is an artist – and he sees all of humanity as an audience – one that will stand in awe as he ruins them all."
Hymnal has the reputation of being a sadist, and that may be the case. More likely is that Hymnal sees extreme violence as an effective method. He apparently has no conscience, and goes about his evil deeds in the most casual of fashions. The one very distinct exception in Hymnal's personality is his actions, and probable feelings towards Aria. He seems to be involved with her based on romantic feelings and not for some twisted game. In any event, Hymnal has shown his loyalty to be with Aria above all others.
((Hymnal's real name is unknown - mental probes of the character reveal nothing. There were no survivors from the accident caused by his mutation to definitively indentify him, and all records from Baumton were destroyed during the Rikti bombing))
