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Azrael is an archangel, the highest ranking angel in the Darksiders series. Angels, rather than being biblically accurate eldritch nightmares from beyond the stars, are winged humanoids with white hair, white eyes and tanned skin. While angelic society is militaristic with a heavy emphasis on physical and martial prowess, Azrael's forte is magic, making him heaven's one and only sorcerer and its top scholar. It is a fact that he is highly proud of, to the point where he becomes somewhat offended when he is referred to as a soldier. Such is his love of academia, knowledge and the preservation of it thereof, that if one were to get him started on his collection of books, scrolls, tablets and artifacts, one might find themselves steamrolled by a veritable wall of information. One might also get to see Azrael at his happiest too, eagerly gushing about the newest installation in the library, or perhaps the new library just built, or any other manner of nerdy, bookish delights.
Pride is something that, like most angels, Azrael is in no short supply of either, and he is not wanting for confidence at all in his own skills and intelligence. While he may be slow to anger, he does still take offense if either of these are questioned, and the angel will not be slow to reply to any such questioning, more than happy to demonstrate his sharp wit on those he deems tiresome. Azrael openly detests willing ignorance, brutality and blatant disrespect, and he has no qualms about metaphorical murder. This isn't to say that he is necessarily arrogant, and the angel has proven time and time again that he is willing to admit fault and apologize... If the situation calls for it, of course. While Azrael is far kinder and far gentler than the majority of his kin, he's still very much an angel, and he'd really like to believe he knows what he's talking about 99% of the time, thank you.
Upon speaking with Azrael, probably the very first thing one will glean is that he's stiff. He is intensely formal in his language and mannerisms, and comes across as buttoned up and extremely reserved. The aura of a senior, high ranking government official, with almost very little outward signs of levity or mellowness. The angel in fact makes it very obvious with his demeanor alone that he is a creature of law above all else, and prizes order and reason as some of his most valued concepts. He takes his duties and everything related to it with the utmost seriousness, and so too it seems he takes everything else with the same exact level of heavy, iron-clad gravity. While all of this is certainly a natural facet of his personality, it must be stated that angels live beneath an incredibly strict code of rules that dictate everything that they do, from who they keep company with, how they speak, with whom they speak to, how they are allowed to conduct themselves based upon rank, right down to who they are allowed to love and sleep with. Azrael isn't simply buttoned up and reserved because that is who he is; he is as such because he must be, by law. To misspeak or act out would potentially violate the terms of his position, and so everything about himself he works to tightly control, from his words to his tone to his very facial expressions.
Similar to his biblical iteration, Azrael is the Angel of Death. However, his duty involves the care and protection of the Well of Souls, a relic that takes in, purifies, and then releases all the souls of the dead back into the universe to be reused. Not a single soul enters or leaves without Azrael's knowledge. Understandably, this has brought him closer to the shorter lived races, humans being chief among them, and he is the only angel who seems to care for the young race, to the point where he is the only person in the first Darksiders game to mourn their loss. He greatly dislikes violence, seeing it as a last resort and an unfortunate necessity. It is something to be avoided as best he can, not out of fear or weakness, but rather out of a powerful revulsion for it. That isn't to say that he won't met out punishment however, should he be left with no other option.
Azrael himself is a stoic, even tempered, patient man possessed of a near endless wellspring of empathy and kindness. Nearly unflappable, he is a master of maintaining a perfect poker face, seemingly impassive to both threats and insults. He is also a peerless user of sarcasm, with some of instances of it being so advanced, one might only realize they've been insulted hours after the fact. All of this withers away however in the face of suffering, misery or emotional turmoil, as Azrael is simply too empathetic for his own damn good. He is quick to try and calm and reassure those who he feels need it, regardless of his personal opinions of them, unable to stomach the idea of someone hurting when there is still something he could do to ease them. This could take the form of simple words or actions yes, but he has gone as far as to assume the shape of an enemy's fallen loved one so that he might bring them peace in their final moments. Azrael even stumbled over himself, just a little, to reassure and ease Death himself when he was forced to deny the nephilim entry to Eden, despite the fact that they had both spent most of their time together insulting each other at that point. Predictably, this is rather exploitable, and Azrael's unyielding and unquestionable care for others and the ones he loves most have been used against him in the past.
The angel is a veritable powerhouse of magic, even a hundred years of imprisonment where his power was siphoned away from him did very little to cripple him when he was finally freed. While his list of spells are long, his real specialty are illusions. Powerful, nearly unbreakable and exact, he has used his magic to hide an entire battlefield from view, assume the shapes of enemies in order to sow discord, distract, and dispense misinformation, and yes even take on the form of lost loved ones to ease someone at the end of their life.
While his personality and demeanor might not suggest it, Azrael himself is a talented and intelligent manipulator and trickster, more than willing to use that powerful sense of empathy for his own purposes when necessary. Despite this, Azrael is hardly duplicitous normally, preferring a more honest and direct approach to dealing with people as a whole. Rarely does he say things he doesn't mean without the use of sarcasm, and he will gladly explain himself if he is misunderstood. Despite his usually inscrutable expression and illusory prowess, he is not one for spinning riddles. What he will do however, is stall, typically if the information he's about to relay will upset the listener, looking for the best way to phrase it rather than the bluntest. The one thing he dislikes more than violence, it would seem, is causing others pain.
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Azrael is an archangel, the highest ranking angel in the Darksiders series. Angels, rather than being biblically accurate eldritch nightmares from beyond the stars, are winged humanoids with white hair, white eyes and tanned skin. While angelic society is militaristic with a heavy emphasis on physical and martial prowess, Azrael's forte is magic, making him heaven's one and only sorcerer and its top scholar. It is a fact that he is highly proud of, to the point where he becomes somewhat offended when he is referred to as a soldier. Such is his love of academia, knowledge and the preservation of it thereof, that if one were to get him started on his collection of books, scrolls, tablets and artifacts, one might find themselves steamrolled by a veritable wall of information. One might also get to see Azrael at his happiest too, eagerly gushing about the newest installation in the library, or perhaps the new library just built, or any other manner of nerdy, bookish delights.
Pride is something that, like most angels, Azrael is in no short supply of either, and he is not wanting for confidence at all in his own skills and intelligence. While he may be slow to anger, he does still take offense if either of these are questioned, and the angel will not be slow to reply to any such questioning, more than happy to demonstrate his sharp wit on those he deems tiresome. Azrael openly detests willing ignorance, brutality and blatant disrespect, and he has no qualms about metaphorical murder. This isn't to say that he is necessarily arrogant, and the angel has proven time and time again that he is willing to admit fault and apologize... If the situation calls for it, of course. While Azrael is far kinder and far gentler than the majority of his kin, he's still very much an angel, and he'd really like to believe he knows what he's talking about 99% of the time, thank you.
Upon speaking with Azrael, probably the very first thing one will glean is that he's stiff. He is intensely formal in his language and mannerisms, and comes across as buttoned up and extremely reserved. The aura of a senior, high ranking government official, with almost very little outward signs of levity or mellowness. The angel in fact makes it very obvious with his demeanor alone that he is a creature of law above all else, and prizes order and reason as some of his most valued concepts. He takes his duties and everything related to it with the utmost seriousness, and so too it seems he takes everything else with the same exact level of heavy, iron-clad gravity. While all of this is certainly a natural facet of his personality, it must be stated that angels live beneath an incredibly strict code of rules that dictate everything that they do, from who they keep company with, how they speak, with whom they speak to, how they are allowed to conduct themselves based upon rank, right down to who they are allowed to love and sleep with. Azrael isn't simply buttoned up and reserved because that is who he is; he is as such because he must be, by law. To misspeak or act out would potentially violate the terms of his position, and so everything about himself he works to tightly control, from his words to his tone to his very facial expressions.
Similar to his biblical iteration, Azrael is the Angel of Death. However, his duty involves the care and protection of the Well of Souls, a relic that takes in, purifies, and then releases all the souls of the dead back into the universe to be reused. Not a single soul enters or leaves without Azrael's knowledge. Understandably, this has brought him closer to the shorter lived races, humans being chief among them, and he is the only angel who seems to care for the young race, to the point where he is the only person in the first Darksiders game to mourn their loss. He greatly dislikes violence, seeing it as a last resort and an unfortunate necessity. It is something to be avoided as best he can, not out of fear or weakness, but rather out of a powerful revulsion for it. That isn't to say that he won't met out punishment however, should he be left with no other option.
Azrael himself is a stoic, even tempered, patient man possessed of a near endless wellspring of empathy and kindness. Nearly unflappable, he is a master of maintaining a perfect poker face, seemingly impassive to both threats and insults. He is also a peerless user of sarcasm, with some of instances of it being so advanced, one might only realize they've been insulted hours after the fact. All of this withers away however in the face of suffering, misery or emotional turmoil, as Azrael is simply too empathetic for his own damn good. He is quick to try and calm and reassure those who he feels need it, regardless of his personal opinions of them, unable to stomach the idea of someone hurting when there is still something he could do to ease them. This could take the form of simple words or actions yes, but he has gone as far as to assume the shape of an enemy's fallen loved one so that he might bring them peace in their final moments. Azrael even stumbled over himself, just a little, to reassure and ease Death himself when he was forced to deny the nephilim entry to Eden, despite the fact that they had both spent most of their time together insulting each other at that point. Predictably, this is rather exploitable, and Azrael's unyielding and unquestionable care for others and the ones he loves most have been used against him in the past.
The angel is a veritable powerhouse of magic, even a hundred years of imprisonment where his power was siphoned away from him did very little to cripple him when he was finally freed. While his list of spells are long, his real specialty are illusions. Powerful, nearly unbreakable and exact, he has used his magic to hide an entire battlefield from view, assume the shapes of enemies in order to sow discord, distract, and dispense misinformation, and yes even take on the form of lost loved ones to ease someone at the end of their life.
While his personality and demeanor might not suggest it, Azrael himself is a talented and intelligent manipulator and trickster, more than willing to use that powerful sense of empathy for his own purposes when necessary. Despite this, Azrael is hardly duplicitous normally, preferring a more honest and direct approach to dealing with people as a whole. Rarely does he say things he doesn't mean without the use of sarcasm, and he will gladly explain himself if he is misunderstood. Despite his usually inscrutable expression and illusory prowess, he is not one for spinning riddles. What he will do however, is stall, typically if the information he's about to relay will upset the listener, looking for the best way to phrase it rather than the bluntest. The one thing he dislikes more than violence, it would seem, is causing others pain.