DJ

A young beast demon long estranged from any family he’s ever had. DJ was on death row in the dungeons of Lord Malois for several murders after losing control of his beast form, when he’s visited and offered a deal by the sin beast Avarice: they would buy out his sentence if he joins their famed deathmatch tournament. What does he have to lose? He’s going to die anyway and he’d rather go down feeling like he tried - or get pardoned if he’s lucky.

DJ has a troubled history with his abilities - most beast demons cannot access their full beast form and have to hone the skill, and unfortunately DJ learned to use his under the pressure of danger and fear. He struggles to control himself in beast mode, surrendering logic to fight-or-flight response, and acts aggressive and instinctual. He’s been plagued by nightmares that trigger his transformation since childhood: he woke from the first in a puddle of his parents’ blood and he’s been afraid of himself ever since. He joined a pack of other beast types in his late teens desperate for family but a similar (though thankfully less deadly) episode got him kicked out of the gang. if he could just try a little harder, not be as weak-willed next time, maybe...

Conscription into the Deathmatch doesn’t mean he has to die: every contestant’s goal is to assemble a puzzle box, fighting over pieces in each match and later challenging other players for their collections. Killing your opponent is strategically useful, of course, but not required - so long as you can get them to forfeit instead.

It doesn’t take long for DJ to pick up some other strays as a little makeshift team. He meets the fallen angel Clarion as his assigned first-day roommate and are fast friends; both the type to speak openly and trust implicitly. The kid necromancer Kazzie joins them a week or two later, though not necessarily for genuine reasons (wip lol) hoping to take advantage of DJ’s trust (maybe as a team play??), only to have their social armour absolutely shattered by his genuine caring and loyalty.

DJ is a warm, friendly guy with hurt behind his eyes. It’s a dog-eat-dog world and he just wants the safety of people he can trust and who know they can trust him.