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Styx was my first character ever to appear in City of Heroes, albeit as a hero and under a completely different name. He was originally concieved as a replacement and sidekick for Charon, Charon's name being taken during the City of Heroes beta test. After finding out the name Styx was also taken, Styx began his life under the name Noctis, a play on the latin phrase 'Nox Noctis'. The name Styx was free when the game went live, but the character wasn't played and only really came into his element with the release of City of Villains, where the 'sidekick gone bad' concept was all too appealing.

Styx started out as a Dark/Dark Brute, but after the release of Issue 7, he was re-rolled into a Dark/Ninjitsu Stalker and has been going strong since. He is an utterly ruthless, corrupt individual who does not play well with others. He has been a member of three villainous coalitions; Fracture, Malice in Wonderland and Rogues Gallery. He is a free agent, and lives for nothing more than mayhem, destroying his father's criminal empire and toying with Charon, his former-mentor and nemesis.

Affiliations

• Slaphappy - Once a member of Styx's 'Fracture', Slaphappy and Styx have remained close allies since and are fond of each other as partners for raising mayhem and destruction.
• Bloodywedd - A villainess Styx has worked with regularly, Styx is particularly fond of her due to her complete madness, and even joined her group Malice in Wonderland for a brief stint.
• Mr. Mud - Another criminal from the streets of Kings Row, Styx and Mr. Mud have worked together a few times although have extreme disagreements in morals.
• Mindswipe - Styx's current 'boss' and leader in the group of villains known as the 'Rogues Gallery'.

Villaingroup: Rogues Gallery

Previous Villaingroups: Fracture, Malice in Wonderland

Personality

Before his transformation Joseph was nothing but a fairly happy kid. Even after finding out about his father's double life as a bloodthirsty gangster he remained a wisecracking thrill seeker while undergoing training with the hero Charon, something that became a great annoyance to the seasoned vigilante. However, even before his transformation Joseph was extremely hotheaded and head strong and was reluctant to take orders from Charon, which was ultimately what lead to his death and his transformation.

Now, Styx is still a wisecracker and a thrill seeker, but he is also malicious, vindictive and homicidal. He will often seem to display much the same attitude as he did as a human one minute, and then turn into the murderous monster he has become the next. Styx has now turned his hotheaded determination to destroying the life of his gangster father and toying with his previous mentor, Charon. Styx has truly become a twisted, grotesque mockery of the person he once was.

Character History

Joseph LaRusso grew up a happy child in a happy family, with a pair of parents who did anything to please him. Of course, he was completely oblivious to the fact that his father was a bloodthirsty mobster who had a hand in most of the criminal activity inside the limits of the Kings Row district.

It was when he was nineteen that Joseph found out about his father's double life as a gangster. The vigilante known as Charon broke into the LaRusso family home and left Frank LaRusso lying in files and folders of criminal evidence with two broken legs. The PPD arrived soon after, and that night the infamous 'Knuckles' LaRusso was arrested, screaming apologies to his son. Only a few weeks later Frank was sentenced to twenty years in Ziggursky Correctional Facility for his crimes.

Joseph was enraged at his father's double life. He became only more disgusted with each criminal charge filed against his mob boss father, including prostitution, drug charges and conspiracy to commit several murders. The day before his father was sentenced, Joseph packed a bag and left the LaRusso family home. With no where else to go, Joseph made his new home on the streets, and made it his mission to track down the vigilante who had brought his father to justice.

Joseph finally found Charon on a cold night in the winter of 2003, during a mugging in progress. When all three of the petty muggers had hit the cold floor of the alley, Joseph stepped from his hiding place and made his plea. He told Charon exactly who he was, and begged the hardened hero to train him so that he too could battle men like his father. Initially Charon was reluctant, especially considering Joseph's background and family ties but after listening to his motivation and realising the contempt he felt for his own parents, Charon reluctantly agreed to train him.

Over the next few weeks, Charon and his vigilante team Bone Squad began to teach Joseph basic martial arts, but Joseph wanted to fight gangsters in the same means they terrorised their victims. He managed to convince Charon to give him training in explosives and firearms, provided he used non-lethal ammunition. After weeks of training, homing his skills in hand to hand combat and testing his aim, Joseph took to the streets at Charon's side, calling himself 'Noctis'.

After a few months of patrolling with Charon and facing some of the greatest threats in Kings Row's underworld, Charon decided that Noctis was ready for his first real test. Inexplicably in the early days of March 2004, Charon disapeared. Noctis was left to battle the criminal element on the streets of Kings Row with no help from his mentor. To Charon's surprise, he showed initiative and rallied the help of two of Charon's greatest allies, forming a new Bone Squad with the sole mission of keeping the streets clean in Charon's absence. Charon was considering coming out of hiding and taking Noctis up against some of Paragon City's more serious threats when the greatest threat of all made itself known.

On April 26th 2004 a warning was put out by the Paragon City authorities; a second Rikti Assault was imminent. Charon was forced to return to Kings Row immediately and stop the test; Joseph was no way near ready to take on the interdimensional menace. Ever headstrong, Joseph was determined that if he survived the last two months without Charon's help, he could fight the Rikti without it. Noctis switched off his comm device just as Charon was warning him to stay off the streets. Soon after, Joseph was caught on a security camera changing into his kevlar padded costume, perhaps proving exactly how much of an amateur he still was. This was the last time Joseph LaRusso was ever seen alive.

Ironically it was not the Rikti that would kill him, which was what Charon was convinced would happen as he frantically searched for Joseph in the chaos. Instead, it was one of Charon's greatest enemies that cornered him in a back alley in Brickstown. His name was Snide, a man who had been horrifically scarred by Charon in 1996. In an act of revenge, he savagely beat Joseph with a crowbar. Joseph fought back, but his efforts were futile. Not only did Snide kill him but the villain savaged Joseph's body and left an unrecognisable mess lying in the alley where they had found him.

Joseph rose from the grave in the coroner's van, killing both the attendant sitting with his body and the driver before escaping the wreckage of the vehicle. Snide had not been alone; a detailed plot to crush Charon had been constructed by he and one of Charon's most evil nemeses: The Orphean, a necromancer and dark magician. Joseph, now undead, disapeared and Charon was convinced Noctis was just one in hundreds of bodies killed by the Rikti that had not yet been identified. That was, until he was attacked by something that looked very much like Joseph a few months after Noctis' supposed death. Noctis seemed to be utterly malicious and vindictive, determined to destroy Charon for allowing him to die. He also spoke of his rage against his father that seemed to survive his transformation into the walking dead, and the rest of the world for being merely mortals, beings that were indefinately beneath him. This was the last time Charon saw the creature that now called itself 'Styx' until late 2005.

Over the few years he was missing Styx travelled to the Rogue Isles and set up a base of operations in an abandoned asylum for the criminally insane, on a small island just off Nerva Archipelago. Styx then made it his mission to form a coalition consisting of all the enemies of Charon and his Bone Squad, determined to destroy the heroes so that the rogues could have free reign over the streets. They began to make their first assaults in late 2005, and soon a war was raging between the Bone Squad and Fracture. The war raged into 2006 and many casualties were felt on both sides, not least the loss of teen hero Kid Vamp's eye which was removed by Styx during a skirmish. Eventually, the two groups started to fall apart and now only individual agents from the two sides still operate in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles respectively. Occasionally the remnants of Fracture and the Bone Squad are known to come to blows, but in the eyes of the authorities both groups are now defunct.

After the collapse of Fracture Styx wandered the Rogue Isles. For a while he joined the group of madmen known as Malice in Wonderland, causing mayhem and mischief at their side for several months. Eventually he began to find their riddles and games tiresome and decided to turn his attention back to destroying his father's criminal organisation, raising his own brand of mayhem and toying with Charon, which had always been his favorite passtime.

Styx is now a free agent working with the loose coalition of villains known as the Rogues Gallery.

Powers

As a vampyr, Styx possesses many of the abilities vampyri wield and has even mastered some that many vampyri have not yet even realised is within the realms of their ability, such as flight without the aid of animal transformation.

Dark Melee

While Styx was trained in a range of Martial Arts by Charon long before his transformation into a vampyr, as a member of the undead he is able to channel dark energy into his attacks for extra power and effectiveness. At times, he is even able to call on the forces of the dead in times of extreme peril, which usually manifests intself as a set of dark tentacles bursting forth from below.

Cloak of Shadows

Styx is able to completely melt into the shadows, making him a master at sneaking up on his victims. Styx has also been know to use this ability to toy with prey, either heroes or average citizens, almost sending them mad before bursting from the shadows to attack them. When attacking from the shadows Styx has the element of surprise and invariably kills with a single strike.

Petrifying Gaze

Like most vampyri, Styx is able to petrify weak willed humans with a single stare, which will leave them quivering on the spot unable to run from him as he plots exactly what he wishes to inflict upon them. Styx uses this ability to great effect against weaker willed adversaries, which aids him greatly when draining the life from unsuspecting prey to sustain himself. However, this ability has been known to fail against the stronger of mind.

Life Drain

As a vampyr, Styx is able to drain the life from humans to renew his own powers and ability. While Styx is able to go perhaps a few weeks before he starts to waste away, he is still dependent on the life of others and must drain souls in order to sustain himself, and thus this power is not only one he uses from time to time in battle but rather one that he is forced to use regularly, lest he waste away into nothing.

Regeneration

Just as Styx is able to drain life from others in order to renew himself, he also has a natural degree of regenerative ability as a member of the undead. While he would not be able to regenerate lost limbs, he is able to heal any wounds sustained very quickly simply by regrowing dead tissue.

Flight

Something that many vampyri do not even attempt, Styx has managed to master the art of levitating himself and is able to fly at considerable speeds. Many vampires use their ability to transform in order to take flight as an animal, for example a bat. Styx however appears not to possess this ability and instead has taken great lengths to master the art of flight without the aid of transformation.

Abilities

Styx has many abilities he possessed long before becoming undead, and these natural attributes garnered through intense training have only been amplified by the great power he has been granted as a Vampyr.

Speed

Styx was always extremely fast, but this speed has been amplified by around five times since his transformation, and he is now able to beat many in battle simply due to his enhanced speed. Styx couples this ability with his stealth in order to slip in and out of combat, disorientating and confusing his opponents to the point where they are unable to fight back effectively.

Strength

Styx became extremely strong, almost to the peak of human ability during his training sessions with Charon. SInce his transformation, however, he has become much stronger and has an element of mild super strength behind his dark melee attacks, and would be able to lift up to around half a ton with relative ease before he would begin to feel extreme strain.

Agility and Stealth

Even without his ability to melt into the shadows, Styx was always extremely agile and had long mastered stealthily sneaking up on his foes, something he has now fine tuned to allow him to silently sneak up on prey. This, coupled with Styx's superhuman abilities have led to him being hired as an assassin on more than one occassion.

Equipment

Styx still carries many pieces of equipment from his time as a vigilante, despite the fact that he is now powerful enough that he does not need to employ gadgetry.

Fedora

While this piece of equipment has no practical use, it is perhaps one of Styx's most important. In life he wore the fedora, which once belonged to his father, to remind him of his mission and why he was training to fight men like his father. Styx now keeps the hat for much the same reasons, but also as one of the final links to his previous life.

Small Explosives

These small explosives, carried in Styx's utility belt were a device he learned to use under Charon's supervision as an aid for distraction, and he still employs them to cover his ascent into the shadows to this day. Styx is also an explosives expert and often employs this ability when working with Slaphappy who is a big fan of simply blowing things up for dramatic effect.

Caltrops

Styx has been known to use caltrops to prevent victims and heroes from escaping him, dropping them on his way in to a building to stop runners once he has made his presence known. Styx has also been known to drop these during battle to keep his victim in a confined space, unable to run if they lose the upper hand.

Blinding Powder

Styx is not adverse to fighting dirty and carries blinding powder to distract enemies during battle to gain the other hand, as well as to aid his escape if need be. Styx has also been known to use blinding powder to confuse adversaries and leave them mindlessly swiping at each other.

Teleportation Device

A standard issue teleportation device, Styx uses this to travel large distances to places such as the Rogues Gallery base Warehouse 13, or to one of the numerous medical facilities in the Rogue Isles. This device was likely stolen from Crey Industries along with the rest of the teleporation devices freely distributed throughout the Rogues Gallery.

Vulnerabilities

While many of the home remedies for fighting off vampyri are simple myth and legend, there are some that actually would kill a vampyr. While religious symbols, silver, garlic and any manor of other ridiculous examples of myth will not affect Styx, he can be killed in three fundamental ways. Firstly, Styx is extremely vulnerable to fire and will burn alive quite easily; secondly, decapitation will also kill Styx and any other vampyri as will, finally, a wooden stake to the heart. Styx is only extremely vulnerable to decapitation, as he not only wears a flame retardant suit, but has an impervium chest plate underneath his costume to prevent penetration by stakes.

Styx is vulnerable to sunlight, which burns any skin not covered. Because of this Styx avoids the outside world during daylight hours, but is perfectly able to leave his headquarters and walk in daylight aslong as he covers his whole body to avoid ignition.

Adversaries

• Charon - Styx's former mentor, Styx now holds Charon responsible for his shoddy training and eventual death at the hands of the Fifth Column Vampyri, which is strange as he actually idolises the vampyri themselves for giving him his new state of awareness.
• The Widowed - Another vigilante operating in Kings Row, Styx has fallen afoul of the bitter hag many times since becoming a villain, especially during his days working with Malice in Wonderland.
• Knuckles - Joseph's biological father, even as a vampyr Styx still hates Knuckles for leading a life he hid completely from his son, and still seeks to destroy his life and his criminal empire years later.

To Contact This Character's Creator

• In-game: @Charon.
• CoHGuru Forums: Charon
• Official Forums: Mr_Mud