Limbo

Not everyone gets to be someone important. For a lot of people, life is pretty mundane -- they wake up, they go to some boring, soulless job, and they come home to rest before they do it all again the next day. It's easy to get lost in the blandness of mediocrity, and that was certainly true of the completely uninteresting Ethan Holloway. Never one for ambition, he perfected the art of coasting by through life just well enough to get by without ever really needing to put in the effort to stand out. For pretty much his entire adult life, he worked nights as a cashier at bodega near where he lived, and he never dared to seek anything more for himself. Aside from the bizarre creatures who wander into his shop in the middle of the night, he always found himself feeling out of place out around most people. Did that make him a bizarre creature of the night, too? Ethan himself always considered it to be real possibility.

Ethan generally kept to himself and didn't keep a lot of close relationships. He moved to Paragon City right after high school on a whim, leaving his only relative - his single mother - back home in Olympia. They text occasionally, but for the most part, Ethan remained completely isolated from family since he moved. By most social standards, Ethan was a loser. At the very least, he was completely forgettable to virtually everyone he met. In a way, it allowed him to be free; on the fringes of society, unnoticed by most, he was liberated from many things that hold normal people back, like shame, or fear of failure. Where most would get dragged down by negativity, Ethan somehow thrived. Still, a part of him always regretted doing absolutely nothing meaningful with his life, though he typically tried to not dwell on that feeling.



Ethan's death came on a night like any other. He had just finished working a shift, and geared up for the middle-of-the-night walk home down the quiet, empty streets, hhappy for a chance to listen to some music and tune the world out for a bit on his way back to his apartment. Unfortunately, he tuned the world out a little too well, and was too distracted to notice a vehicle speeding towards him as he jaywalked across an intersection, too impatient to wait for the pedestrian crossing light to signal for his safety. In that single instant moment when the car made impact, Ethan Holloway ceased to exist; to Ethan, however, that moment stretched out into eternity while his life flashed by in his mind's eye. As he watched, that familiar feeling returned. He wished he could have done more. And then he died.

After Ethan's death, the world went on as normal. His job hired a replacement as soon as they found out what happened. His belongings were all auctioned off, and his apartment was rented out to a new tenant. His mother, though distraught about her only child's death, was unable to come to Paragon City and properly handle all of Ethan's affairs, or even pay for a proper burial. For a time, Ethan's body sat in a Paragon City morgue waiting to be cremated and disposed of. It never did make it to the cremation chamber; Ethan's body was flagged as a potential candidate for a medical research program, and was subsequently shipped off to the laboratory of Dr. Benedict McCobb, a Paragon City University professor whose experimental research aimed to cure death itself.



Dr. McCobb had only experienced moderate success in his resurrection trials prior to acquiring Ethan's body. Though he was able to concoct the right chemical formula to reanimate dead tissue, he had a hard time counteracting the natural decay of corpses without the heavy use of preservatives, which had devastating effects to brain function post-reanimation. With Ethan, however, Dr. McCobb was determined to get it right. Once he was able to craft a new version of his reanimation serum to pump through Ethan that passed all of his simulations, he put it to the real test. Upon injecting it directly into Ethan's cold, dead heart, his body began to regenerate at a remarkable pace. After a moment of anticipation, Ethan awoke on the lab table, gasping for air as every cell in his body was jolted alive. Dr. McCobb was elated -- it seemed that he had finally accomplished his goal of curing death, once and for all!

It took a while for Ethan to fully process what happened to him. The last thing that he remembered was walking home from work. He remembered his life stretching out before him, and then... noting. That is, until waking up in a strange lab with a weird, bald scientist he'd never met before. Once his mental faculties returned enough for him to properly communicate with Dr. McCobb, Ethan finally learned the truth about his death. Having also learned that the world had unsurprisingly moved on without him, Ethan agreed to stay in Dr. McCobb's laboratory for him to continue to study. As time went on, however, Ethan grew exhausted with his existence as a human lab rat. He wanted nothing more than to die once more, wishing to return to the peaceful nothingness he felt in death before being forced back to life. He even attempted suicide on more than one occasion, only to find it to be physically impossible for him to do, despite all logic and reason. Not only that, but Ethan's body seemed to be immune to the effects of aging. By all metrics, Dr. McCobb's cure for death was not only successful, but permanent.

Just as Dr. McCobb anticipated, there was massive interest in Ethan's unprecedented condition. Buzz about Ethan spread around academia like wildfire, as people obsessed over the prospect of a potential cure for every ailment facing mankind. Though people's understanding of what Ethan could actually do was incredibly limited at the time, he became an incredibly coveted scientific asset almost overnight. It's no surprise that he became targeted by Crey Industries, who wanted to use Ethan to unlock the secrets of immortality for Countess Crey. They kidnapped him from the university to experiment on him for themselves, effectively ruining both Dr. McCobb's big debut, and his career in the process. It was while in the custody of Crey that Ethan was rescued by Ace, who needed his unique capabilities to help with a dangerous rescue mission. Inspired by his rescuers, he joined them as the vigilante Limbo to form the Vanquishers, a group of powerful heroes who work together to make the world a better place, giving him a second chance to be something great.



Generally speaking, the realm of the dead and the realm of the living stay separated by a supernatural barrier colloquially called the veil. Thanks to having one foot in both realms at all times, Limbo is one of very few beings capable of moving freely through this veil from one side to the other. The realm of death is a vast, infinite place that exists in-between the many afterlives that houses the souls of the dead into eternity. The realm was referred to as Limbo - a layer of hell - long before Ethan took the name for himself. It is a wild place full of dark magic where time does not exist. It houses an endless horde of monstrous, soul-eating demons who feed off of the wayward spirits of those who get lost on the way to their final resting places.

Ethan's first trip beyond the veil attracted the attention of Haros, a native demon with the power to see the path of a soul's destiny. Haros is one of very few Limbo demons with some semblance of a moral code; he uses his power to help he lost find their homes, like a shepherd of souls. Haros could see Ethan's fate was somehow critically intertwined with that of countless others; an unprecedented phenomenon that he found quite alarming. Not wanting to leave those fates in the hands of a complete idiot, Haros took it upon himself to train Limbo, helping him unlock the full potential of his powers, and establishing an unlikely companionship between them along the way. The two now work as partners to help souls across both realms.



The realm beyond the veil is intrinsically connected to the realm of life. Neither can exist without its opposite. In the same vein, what happens in one realm has a direct effect on what is happening in the other. Sometimes, the veil between the realms can be worn thin, typically as a result of a large number of deaths occurring at that location in the living world. These are dangerous, haunted places where the dead and the living can naturally intermingle. They attract powerful forces that, if left unchecked, can be very problematic for both realms.

One of these places, an abandoned motel on the outskirts of Paragon City infamous for the high body count it claimed in its heyday, has recently been inhabited by a new demon in its infancy. The walls of the motel serve as the demon's bones; in all practical sense, the motel and everything inside it is alive. Ethan and Haros befriended the motel, which Ethan simply calls the Limbo Lodge (or just 'the Lodge'), and it now serves as their central base of operations, housing ghosts with nowhere to go while Ethan can figure out how to help them find rest. It is a beacon of hope for all the dead trapped in the world of the living, and a bastion of safety for lost souls trying to escape the numerous threats from beyond the veil of death.

Repossessed:
Shortly after re-joining the real world as the vigilante Limbo, Ethan returns to his old apartment to track down some of his old belongings from before his untimely death. When he learns that Crey took ownership of his stuff after they kidnapped him, he tries to get it back.



Haros:
A demon native to the realm of Limbo who is tasked with bringing souls to their respective afterlives. He is capable of sensing the destiny of any given soul, which is what drew him to Ethan upon his resurrection; he could see the strands of fate connected to Ethan in a unique way unlike anything seen before, and now sees himself as Ethan's protector and mentor. The two have a partnership unlike any other that has been forged by immeasurable time together beyond the veil.

The Vanquishers:
Ethan owes everything he has to the Vanquishers. If it weren't for them rescuing him from Crey, he'd still be sitting around in some lab getting poked and prodded for some mad science nonsense somewhere. This team of heroes gave him the opportunity take his mess of a life and inject it with purpose, and as such he devotes himself fully to the team. Its members have become his closest friends and allies, and he'll do anything in his power to help them out whenever they need it. He is easily the least experienced member, but also one of the most powerful.

Ace:
If it weren't for Ace, Limbo may have never had a chance to join the Vanquishers, which means Limbo would follow Ace to the end of the world if he had to. Ace is, to Limbo, a shining example of what a hero should strive to be; although he teases and trolls Ace from time to time, he always has a ton of respect for him and never wants to let him down.

Blindsider:
Raul is a battle-hardened badass who probably would have intimidated Limbo back in the days before his death; now that he's gotten more comfortable with danger, Blindsider is always good for a guaranteed, life-threatening thrill. He's more willing to engage Limbo's death wish than most of the other Vanquishers, which Limbo appreciates more than most living people really understand.

Interface:
For a long time, the identity of the Interface network's Creator was kept secret from Limbo and the rest of the Vanquishers to protect her identity. In fact, Limbo was almost convinced that the Creator wasn't even a real person before she unveiled herself to the team as an engineer named Ruth. Now that he knows where to find her, Limbo enjoys spending time haunting her home base of operations to keep her company… most likely much more frequently than she'd prefer.

Occultist:
Limbo has been haunting the Occultist ever since getting permission to temporarily crash on the sofa in his Sanctum after their first meeting. Much to Ollie's annoyance, Ethan ended up staying long-term; despite Ollie's resistance to Ethan's absurd antics and extreme lack of boundaries, the two have become close friends and roommates.

Osiris:
Limbo and the current reincarnation of the ancient god Osiris, who also lives at the Sanctum, have become remarkably good friends. The two of them together are an unstoppable force of chaos; their friendship revolves around them egging each other on in the most outrageously destructive ways possible. To Limbo, Osiris is a source of endless entertainment in the form of life-threatening thrills. They both also frequently find themselves coming together to deal with issues relating to the dead.

Signal:
She’s been Limbo’s ride or die ever since she moved into the Sanctum. Signal is someone Limbo loves to blow off steam with, and she's also one of the only people he knows who truly understands the trauma of death on a massive scale, similar to what he feels on his own thanks to his abilities. They may seem like they come from completely different worlds, but they get each other like no one else does.

Spyhunter:
Limbo's ability to perceive a person's soul makes it easy for him to get a good sense of what kind of person they are underneath the surface. James Wilson, the international Spyhunter, is one of very few people Limbo gets no discernable read from whatsoever. Luckily, their work in the Vanquishers together has proven him to be an invaluable ally, one who is never too far away when he's really needed.

Reanimator:
After losing his career following Ethan's abduction from his laboratory, Dr. Benedict McCobb vowed to continue his experimentation independently to recreate the same serum that brought Ethan back to life. Unfortunately, he's had to start back from square one, as he lacks the resources his previous job as a medical researcher gave him access to. Ethan, however, is determined not to let him put someone else through the trauma of resurrection, and thus makes a point to stop Dr. McCobb's schemes whenever he reappears.

Slasher:
A malevolent spirit who has been magically empowered by Satan himself. Ethan was drawn to the cloud of death that hung over Camp Hardwood where the ghost of the infamous murderer resides, and was shocked to discover that the spirit was powerful enough to actually kill Ethan, something that nothing else has ever been able to do. After getting brought back to life by a loophole in the rules of the magic that keeps Slasher bound to the campgrounds, the spirit was magically sealed away by the Occultist to prevent anyone else from being murdered. Slasher later reappeared in the spirit uprising of the Duat - an afterlife realm ruled by Osiris - and has since been locked away by the Egyptian pantheon in a place far beyond the realm of the dead. Still, Ethan hasn't given up hope on helping Slasher find a proper eternal rest outside of imprisonment.

Stand-In:
A man who once died after an unfortunate encounter with Limbo early in his career. Though Ethan tried to save the man's life by transferring his disembodied soul into a new body, inadvertently teaching him how to possess new bodies in the process. In doing so, he did not consider the consequences... such as the loss of the man's family, who moved on after they presumed him to be dead. Stand-In blames Ethan for this, and vows to get revenge by stealing Ethan's body for himself. After a failed attempt at doing so, he was taken to live in the Duat under Osiris' rule, but he quickly started an uprising among the local spirits that destabilized the very fabric of reality in the real world. He was taken alongside Slasher to a prison in the home realm of the Egyptian pantheon, although like Slasher, Ethan believes there is still hope to be had for Stand-In yet.

Vexx Vandal:
As a Christmas present to Ethan, Ace hired an expert assassin to periodically show up and try to kill him. Obviously, Vexx Vandal never succeeds; despite this, his attempts are always the highlight of Ethan's entire week when they happen. To Vexx Vandal's frustration, Ethan has come to regard him as some sort of close friend, despite their relationship consisting of nothing but attempts against Ethan's life. Ethan just really appreciates the gesture.

Elysian:
Raziel is native to the afterlife realm of Elysium, which is accessible through the realm of Limbo, and is where he and Ethan first met upon Ethan's return of one of Elysium's lost souls. The two of them have a very playful friendship together, although a lot of Ethan's sarcasm and angst goes over Raziel's overwhelmingly optimistic head.

Mystery:
Limbo's relationship with investigative journalist Mateo Ortega has been integral in his efforts to help the spirits of the dead trapped on Earth. Often, these spirits require assistance in solving their murders in order to find peace, in which case Mystery's ability to illuminate hidden truths and connect dots is practically crucial. The two work together frequently to solve cases in the living world.

Fritz:
Probably one of Ethan's most unlikely friendships, which is significant considering how many horrific monsters he's friends with. Billionaire tech celebrity Dustin Holmes became acquainted with Ethan through the Vanquishers. He absolutely loathes Ethan, and wears those emotions on his sleeve, but Limbo's ghost-hunting antics make for fantastic footage on his YouTube channel, which is the entire basis of their friendship. Fritz helps design equipment to measure and analyze supernatural elements for Limbo's allies to use in exchange for full camera access to all of Limbo's adventures. It's made Limbo a bit of a celebrity online.

Spell-Slinger:

Chester is the Occultist's apprentice, which means he's always around the Sanctum. Limbo once helped remove a magical tumor monster from Chester's head alongside the Occultist, an experience which undeniably bonded the three of them more than any of them intended going into it. Nowadays, Chester even helps Limbo out with URN on occasion, a gesture which he always appreciates. Limbo regularly tries to rope Chester into his own suicide schemes.