“I’ve seen that which the world will come to. An endless cycle of sin and degradation. I will herald in a new age of gods, a redemption of the world brought about by blood and light. The death of the old must make way for the life of the new.”

~The Herald of Death

Aliases: “Maverick”

Abilities: Superhuman strength and resilience; enhanced healing; the ability to manifest and control dark matter; the ability to absorb, redirect, and spontaneously generate kinetic energy.

Affiliations: The Black Cross; the Blue Market

Background

Since his first appearance, the Death Herald has always been among the fiercest and most ruthless progenitors of destruction. Suspected to have originated during a explosion at Gentex Laboratories, theories range from his past being that of a scientist working on the Void Project to a mercenary caught in the wrong side of the blast. Regardless, the creature that emerged from the tragedy would go on to pioneer terrifying new strategies of destruction.

His first confirmed appearance coincided with a convergence of several mercenaries from around the country. Claiming to have seen divine visions of the future in which a New Age of Gods came to fruition, he enlisted the help of said mercenaries to raid banks and supply depots for resources to fuel his mad agenda. This first group of converted zealots would become the foundation for the Black Cross terrorist organization.

In the following weeks, during resource raids, the Death Herald (or Maverick, as his cohorts referred to him) displayed several unnatural abilities, such as innate anti-kinesthetic projection (which shielded him from bullets), and various forms of dark matter manipulation. A rude taser shot revealed, however, the Herald’s inability to protect himself against energized attacks. To combat this, he manufactured a crude faraday-cage-like armor capable of warding off such attacks in the future.

Throughout his time in service of the bright future he foresaw, the Death Herald has become cunning and ruthless, his blind faith sharpening his strategic dedication and surgical deconstruction of the systems around him. Aided by a host of mercenaries, criminals, and anarchists from such groups as the Black Cross and Blue Market, his control over those around him grew stronger and more influential. With the Wolf-Man seeming to be the only hero capable of standing up to his menace and negating his powers, the Death Herald has only continued his mindless rampage of destruction with more and more fervor, hoping one day to stamp out every light of the living world to set a blaze to the heart of a dead one.

Behind the Design

“Originally designed with a far more skull-like face and boney appearance, Death Herald definitely looked more dead in his original iterations. As we kept refining his character, however, I couldn’t help but feel like the original design rang hollow and fell into too many clichés. I redrew his face several times in various states of decay, including various interpretations of a skin-and-bone structure and even a zombie-like embodiment. Ultimately we ditched the noselessness and exposed teeth in favor of a much more fleshy and human design. He still needed to represent death, though, so I removed his cheeks, creating this horrific face that looked more dead from the side than the front–like a façade. We wove different interpretations of this into his narrative design, so that the more power he uses the more skin burns away, revealing that decrepit skull underneath. I don’t think I’ve ever done so many concepts for one character’s face, but the results speak for themselves; we finally found something we were happy with.”

~Jir0, lead designer on Maverick, the Death Herald

Related Pages: Wolf-Man / The Black Cross / The Blue Market