King Azrael

King Azrael is a malicious NPC that appears in Monsters: The Hunted as the main antagonist, him and his mercenaries pursue Ashley all throughout the fangame. Him and his actions are mentioned in Monster Hunter Seclusion. Unlike other antagonists, he is considered a Karma Houdini and isn't punished by the end of the story: still at large.

Description
King Azrael is average in height, wielding short black hair, dim crimson coloured eyes and skin that is a pale, light brown - no beard visible implying he shaves often and typically looks younger than he actually is. He retains a slim silver + black metallic chestplate combined with a kingly cloak that is red in colour with leopard spotted fur lining up the edges of the cloak, he retains a singular metallic greave on his left arm which covers his entire left arm to hide a dark truth... while his right arm has merely leather vambraces: he wears metallic greaves and his boots have a sharp end to it with a small green jewel adorning near the top of both boots. His crown is platinum in colour with green and red jewels lining up each part of the crown: the crown is far slimmer and smaller than the average crown appearance. He wields a sword that looks incredibly similar to Akantor's Greatsword except it is much smaller than the actual greatsword and is pitch onyx black in colour: he is able to wield it with one hand despite its similar appearance to a greatsword. He is very often seen smiling and smirking alongside laughing like a megalomaniac. Azrael wields a mini-equivalent of the Akantor GS which he nobly attacks in differing styles based on his opponent. He also retains a slinger which he often uses to shoot bomb pods at his foes.

He wears a violet coloured shirt underneath, mostly covered by a black and red coloured chestplate pieces with spiky shoulder blades, this ends on a kingly cloak that is red in colour with tufts of white fur running across the edges of the cloak. Lastly, his left arm is always encased with vambraces: this is to hide a dark secret...

Prior to this, when he was 13, he wore a leather shirt with a fur-coat, black trousers with a black and white coloured scarf, his hair straightened and still naturally black: his eyes at this point were dark brown in colour.

Personality
King Azrael is a violent, cruel and sadistic individual who takes pleasure in hurting others, he has a tinge of faux affibly that he usually only retains when attempting to sway people to his side. He has no qualms in even putting the elderly and children in harms way as he does so several times without remorse. He is incredibly xenophobic and declares Wyverians as animalistic creatures that should be subdued to serve humanity as a slave being - he treats lynians even worse with him commanding the deaths of them upon immediate sight: some of his mercenaries claiming to have seen him crush a Shakalaka's head with his boots and cackling while doing so. Despite his hyperbolic and exaggerated demeanors, he can be calm and silent on occasion and is highly intelligent as he plans out traps, predicaments against his opponents and is also willing to listen to his soldiers advice and ideas when faced with a task. While he is intelligent and not dim-witted, his weakness is his brush attitude towards his enemies alongside his extreme cruelty that gives him the reputation of a mad king.

Prior to this when he was 13, he retained his cold and calculating demeanor while also being mildly friendlier to hide his twisted mindset. In private, he shows the most utmost cruelty and lack of empathy for others. As he gets older, it becomes known that his lack of empathy has evolved into a sociopathic madman whom is willing to go as far as commit acts of torture and murder for sport, often making up insults as he does so. Scores and deals he's settled with corrupt guild members has allowed him to run rampant and out of consequence, alerted of any Guild Knights that attempt to assassinate him and deals with them in brutal fashions, he's also known to target palicoes in particular, one such guild knight that escaped from his mercs bawling in tears of rage exclaimed of Azrael allegedly imprisoning and burning the mans palico alive and forced him to watch as Azrael cackled and mocked him for being horrified by what he was witnessing.

Despite his malicious nature and unspeakable sociopathy, he cares for his loyal followers, soldiers and his pet Bazelgeuse named 'Ouroboros'. He often gets Ouroboros to blow up rebellion camps and lynian hideouts.

Background
Short Summary

During his earlier years, his father Ida Aiden was the former ruler of the "Ciana Kingdom" whom was incredibly gentle and soft-spirited (even going as far as to change his kingdoms name and the surname of his whole family due to the dark history afflicted with the name...): this resulted in him being exploited for his wealth and mocked by other rulers, guild members and even his own personal guards. The king himself did not mind any of it but his firstborn son, Israfel despised it. Even from birth, he was militant-minded, incredibly cruel and very rarely could keep a calm demeanor. Eventually, Israfel snapped at the mockery of his family and decided to gather a group to carry large kegs of barrel bombs into the basin of the neighbouring kingdom during the night; pretending that the barrels were food supplies. The group along with Israfel successfully blew up the settlement and killed everyone inside the fort without repurcussions, including the guild knights that secured the settlement; him and the group then proceeded to pillage the remains and kill all survivors + other villagers without an ounce of remorse. This act brought a sense of horror to Israfel's mother and father: realising just how far their own son could go, thus they banished Israfel permanently: leaving Israfel in a state of anger as he proclaims his return. He eventually became a conscript for a group of mercenaries + treasure hunters which resulted in an ordeal that would cause Azrael to have one arm significantly different from the other: this was the last heard of him for a long time until he returned with many artefacts, a fleet and a domesticated Bazelgeuse that he named 'Ouroboros', implying that he went to the New World and somehow got a hold of a Kinship Stone to have made a Bazelgeuse his pet alongside formed a Kinship with it; both sharing a lust for destruction. His return caused an array of panic as he swiftly set his sights on his former home and proceeded to usurp the throne, finding out that his father died mysteriously and his younger brother has taken the steed to lead. Azrael imprisoned all of his siblings and proceeded to enforce what he would consider, his kingly duties...

Actions
W.I.P

Quotes
"Look at our flag big-nose! this is the future! You? an evolutionary mistake! you make Khezu look beautiful god damn!" - Mocking a wyverian for their appearance. "The Division Trinity has the finest regards at heart, a shame that you don't..." - Conversation with a captured guild knight. "I don't care for sympathies or virtue, I am a winner first and foremost, everything else is secondary!!" - Conversation with wyverian prisoners. "That blade? Division property... Your home? Division property! That... ugly looking thing? Division property... You and your children? Division property!" - His rampant monologue upon villagers. "Wyverians and wyverns are one in the same - look at those feet, degeneracy! and don't get me started on those disgusting furry pests!" - His hatred of lynians implied. "The day you cease your presence, your ugly cat's blood will run down my blade, coward!" - Threatening a rebel knight.

Abilities
Azrael is one of the few individuals to be a Rider but not a natural one, he is speculated to have formed a kinship with Ouroboros due to Azrael having a similar mindset to the rampaging, savage mind of a Bazelgeuse - it is unknown how or where he got a kinship stone from or how he learnt of its attributes. His experience from training alongside his time as a conscript has enabled him to be a very capable fighter - his resurgence of blood onyx confirms that he has slain an Akantor during his "disappearance", the reason why or how is unknown. Azrael is a skilled commander, giving mapped out directions and orders to his soldiers while strategising. His inherented skill of such leadership is said to have either come from his grandfather inherently or his experiences have made him more bold and keen.

Tropes that Apply to Them

 * | The Heavy: He is the main antagonistic force of Monsters: The Hunted, being responsible for the vast majority of the events that occur throughout the fangame.
 * | Evil Overlord: He rules a kingdom in a tyrannical manner and has malicious plans for the world outside of his kingdom.
 * | Berserk Button: While she's mostly good at keeping her composure, she drops the kindly act she puts up if her "masterpieces" are insulted or defaced, developing a more deranged expression and making direct threats as opposed to veiled ones in response.
 * | Faux Affably Evil: When felt to be necessary, he'll falsely speak with a glint of politeness - although usually in a sarcastic manner.
 * | Mood Dissonance: Giggles, laughs and takes joy when he murders and tortures his enemies. Often coming up with creative insults to mock them in their predicament.
 * | Knight of Cerebus: This goes more for the mentions of him in Monster Hunter: Seclusion which starts off light-hearted. His presence brings the dark tone and implications of the fangame he first appeared in into the story of Seclusion.


 * | The Usurper: Takes over several towns and kingdoms, usurping the king position, specifically the Terradora kingdom (formally referred to as the Ciana Kingdom).
 * | Greater Scope Villain: Ashley's goal is to escape the region, not defeat Azrael - him and his mercenaries represents the antagonism of humanity for the fan-game with monsters occupying the other half.
 * | Karma Houdini: Throughout Monster Hunter World: Demons Abode, Monsters: The Hunted and Monster Hunter: Seclusion - Azrael is never punished for his crimes by the end of any stories, and in fact, still remains at large - retaining the region he claimed and terrorising beyond.
 * | Complete Monster: The amount of times he crosses the Moral Event Horizon is considerably countless and he shows no sympathy, remorse or regret for any of his actions - instead expressing joy and laughter for the atrocities he commits. - this is arguable and possibly temporary as he does care for Ouroboros and its speculated that his encounter with the armour may have warped his mindset.
 * | Royalty and Nobility: Comes of inherit royal descendence from his mother and father and gains it back albeit, via usurpation.
 * | Pet and Animal Companion: Ouroboros is Azraels pet Bazelgeuse and he takes genuine care of him - often feeding him piles of injured prisoners.
 * | Dark Messiah: Despite his morbid characteristics, Azrael has a lot of followers, armies of mercenaries, scientists and even guild members that secretly approve of his visions and twisted philosophies.
 * | Sadist: Takes satisfaction and joy in committing violent atrocities to those he considers 'less-ideal' - typically of torturing wyverians that refuse to submit to his rule and killing off lynians in extremely brutal ways. He does not spare his fellow human beings either of their thought process doesn't line with his or serve as an opposition to him such as Guild Knights that are sent to stop him.
 * | Spree Killer: Killing is not out of Azraels standards - he commits many murders both directly and indirectly and with no true predictable pattern.
 * | Combat Pragmatist: Extremely skilled fighter due to his experiences as a conscript. He has zero moral code and only cares about winning no matter what it takes. Even children, the elderly, disabled, animals are all considered fair game to him.
 * | Prejudice: He has an extreme hatred and prejudice against wyverians and thinks of them as lesser beings. Lynians have an even worse case of this, being considered by Azrael to be vermin that should be wiped to extinction.
 * | Slaver: Azrael retains plans to enslave Wyverians and use them as property for reasons such as forced labour, test dummies, torture toys, etc.
 * | Sociopath: "The Sociopath is far from your ordinary criminal or villain. Combine a willingness to cross the Moral Event Horizon without a shred of guilt, a keen sense of other people's mental and emotional fault lines, and a Lack of Empathy, and you have the consummate evildoer. To put it briefly, the Sociopath is like a predator while everyone else is prey to them."
 * | Diabolical Mastermind: Azrael masterminds a lot of his plans and his intentions for his kingdom and the entire region as a whole. With the help of councilmen, his plans are carried through thoroughly and without failure often.

Gallery
N/A

Notes and Trivia

 * Israfel is his true child-birth name before being coined Azrael when he rose to power.
 * 'Azrael' is the name of the angel of death in Islam and some Jewish traditions whom helps transition someone from this world into the afterlife. - This reflects on Azrael in the mass murders he commits.
 * 'Asmodeus' is the name of the "king of demons mostly known from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, in which he is the primary antagonist": Considered the demon of lust and being responsible for twisting people's sexual desires - this reflects on Azrael in a more 'lust for destruction' way than a 'sexual' form of lust.
 * Unlike other villains, King Azrael is not defeated by the end of any of the fangames and is still at large.
 * He has aspects of Kilgrave from Jessica Jones, Dio Brando from JoJo Bizzare's Adventure and Lotso from Toy Story 3 in that while he retains some tragedy in his past, what he does through his screentime and outside his screentime pits him beyond irredeemability as he crosses the Moral Event Horizon so many times and shows no sign of redeemability.
 * There is a mild inspiration of King Joffrey and Ramsay Bolton included into Azrael - namely via 'young can be evil', 'evil king', 'sadistic torturer', 'strategic warlord' characteristics of both characters fused together for Azrael.
 * The corruption of the armour is implied to be the doing of Fatalis but there is no true confirmation of this - the explanation for his alternating appearance between him as a child and him growing up is speculated to be the environments he's endured during exiled.
 * Azrael was originally gonna be aged 14 but then given an age-boost as his actions for such a young age comes off as contrived and not realistic with how skilled he is in combat, commanding, ruling, etc