History

Anvil's life begins under unfortunate circumstances. His mother, having fled the safety of her community after being discovered pairing with an unauthorized mate, wanders the black sands of the wastes in self-imposed exile. Unknown to her, a solitary pack of werewolves catches the scent of her labor as she bears her first and only son. Before Anvil is even a day old, he is taken from his exhausted and starving mother, who is mercilessly ripped to shreds and consumed.

Now a prisoner to this desolate werewolf pack, he is raised as a living punching bag; an anvil - shaping weak pups into strong pups through chase, fight, and his inevitable recapture. Even as a child, Anvil is a formidable foe for young pups whose bodies have yet to be tested on a true hunt. Throughout the years, the pups that survive battle with him grow stronger and stronger, but never stronger than him. Those that aren't strong enough perish beneath his fists. The losses are not mourned. This pack sees any and all weakness as a disease to be rid of - "Only the strong may prosper."

Nearing adulthood, Anvil's innate abilities are nearly ready to blossom. However, the stress and chaos of a battle between his captors and their rival pack pushes him over the edge and unlocks his true potential early - the ability to shift into a shadowy vapor. In this incorporeal form, he is able to free himself and escape the pack that has kept him prisoner for all of his 20 agonizing years. With no sense of his location, he heads towards the distant lights of Vanta City - the largest of the world's few remaining cities, housing nearly a billion souls.

Now free but without a cent to his name or any knowledge of the world, Anvil roams the streets of Vanta City. Without any skills besides his natural strength and affinity for slaughter, Anvil quickly catches the attention of all the wrong eyes. Easily goaded into even more killing for money, he inadvertently establishes himself as a ruthless hitman, called upon by the worst of the worst to do their bloody bidding. As long as he gets money in his pocket and flesh in his belly, Anvil couldn't care less whose face he's smashing - or whose arm he's eating. At least... not at first.

Anger driven by the abuse he endured out in the Wastes encourages his ferocity, lashing out in all directions, indiscriminate and uncaring. It isn't until Anvil experiences what's it like to kill an innocent and witnesses the impact it has on their family that he realizes he has let himself become the same force of evil that cost him so much not so long ago. Disturbed by the havoc he's wrought on this one person's entire family, he considers how many other families he may have inadvertently done the same thing to. Shaken, he makes an attempt to withdraw from the assassin business, but such a thing is not so easily done, not even for him. Still young and not quite learned, he has no choice but to stay in the scene. However, he sets his goals on learning all he can to navigate the business in a way where he and only he controls the outcome, no matter what. Sure, he'll kill for you... but if it turns out you've hired him to kill the wrong person for the wrong reason, it'll be YOU who pays the ultimate price.

Though Anvil's initial wealth was primarily gained through death, he prefers to work as a bodyguard, bouncer, and security guard, protecting individuals and properties with stern authority. Those who meet his fist and survive quickly learn not to cross him again, lest he be less kind the next time.

Having procured a significant savings, Anvil is able to purchase his first home - a renovated warehouse turned loft located directly above a club. Though the location is noisy and vibrates with the bass of endless music, it proves to be the perfect location for an eight-foot-tall behemoth. Tall ceilings and sprawling empty space allows him all the room he needs to live comfortably. He's even able to create a large gym area where he trains daily.

Anvil's life is mostly uneventful. Save for business propositions, he keeps to himself, preferring solitude over the company of others. As a monster of his kind, he isn't wired to understand the complexities of social interaction between humans, vampires, or even werewolves, who are more alike to his kind than any other species. Unlike most other species, monsters communicate primarily through body language, scent, and vocal communication such as growling, hissing, and bellowing. This makes clear communication between himself and other species difficult and tiresome for Anvil. Though monsters of his kind are capable of and understand speech, they prefer not to use it. Despite this, Anvil eventually pursues study in literature and speech, particularly amongst humans, which are the most common denizens of Vanta City. Though this interest is initially forced in order to obtain the the necessary social skills to survive in a human-run world of petty politics and gang rivalry, it soon develops into a passionate hobby. Over time, he develops a speech pattern unexpected for someone who appears to only be a big mindless brute. Mostly, he speaks bluntly and with few words, but if he takes special interest in a person, he'll flaunt his silver tongue and speak with grace and eloquence, if not gruffly.

That said, Anvil is not beyond the ability to understand the dynamics of social interaction. In fact, over time, he develops quite the affection for it. People-watching becomes a favored hobby. Rather than resist what he doesn't understand as he would have in his youth, with age comes maturity, and with maturity comes adaptation. Working closely with people as a bodyguard and protector nurtures a keen eye for understanding and even emphasizing with people, so much that it turns his cold heart into a blazing furnace of passion, kindness, and love. Generosity and patience become tools of strength in his repertoire of increasingly diverse abilities. While his exterior remains fierce and intimidating, his interior completely changes. A gray rock on the outside, but open him up, and he is a beautiful array of colorful crystals, sparkling in the light.

For example, a previous client once called him to take care of his dying mother, who turned out to be a big-shot crimelord for a very powerful gang. The client didn't trust anyone else but Anvil to take care of her, despite his supposed lack of bedside manner. For a person to trust a giant tank of a monster to take care of his tiny and frail elderly mother is already a statement enough, but I digress. Anvil's treatment of the dying woman was exemplary; gentle at all times, handling her with utmost softness and care. He fed, bathed, and cared for her as if she were his own mother. At every moment he stayed by her side, letting her talk about her life and reminisce as much as she wanted - and he enjoyed every second of it. Not for a moment did he ever get bored or impatient or wish he were elsewhere. For him, those final days of her life were a gift to him; treasured memories shared to him through a mutual bond of friendship and closeness. He learned of her life and all the experiences she'd had in a way her own son would never know. They connected in a way only two people can when one of them knows their light is about to go out, and for that, Anvil felt and stills feels grateful. As the light left her eyes, he held her tiny hand in his own, softly caressing the skeletal structure of it as if it could shatter with the slightest wrong movement. When she left the world, he felt a horrible sadness that would haunt him for weeks. He had only just met her, but her company had brought him so much joy. He would miss her humor, her laugh, and how she'd made him smile inside. She had felt warm on a cold day.

Of course, the magic of his softness was tossed out the window the second he picked up the phone and made the call, cold and emotionless. "Your mother is dead." he said to the son, over the phone, staring ahead at nothing with no expression on his face. Ah, Anvil. That chapter of your life sums you up so perfectly.

Comparing his older self to his younger self, full of rage and hostility and and unwillingness to know anyone, is like comparing night and day. Nowadays, older and wiser, Anvil truly understands the importance of friends, family, and people simply being allowed the space to be themselves, be heard, and be understood. The natural affinity his species feels to protect has come out in full force, full power, maximum strength. He feels it with great intensity and shares it with anyone in need, eager to stand up against injustice, inequality, and all things wrong in the world. If he sees or hears any sort of wrong done in his vicinity, he will be the first to stand up and do something about it. God help you should you be the aggressor for it will take a god to save your soul from Anvil.

Anvil's hobbies include reading, writing, and especially botany. As a forest-dwelling species, he is naturally drawn to plantlife and gets special enjoyment growing them from seed. Real plantlife is rare and expensive in this world, but nothing fulfilling a few bounties can't get him. Plants are his main choice of household decoration, covering every available inch without being too crowded. Besides plants and literature, Anvil's only interests are to put food in his belly, keep a roof over his head, and find someone to bed whenever he feels especially lonely.

Though he doesn't understand his own feelings of despair and grief for exactly what they are, he is aware that something is troubling him. Without the forests he was meant to roam in, trapped in a jungle of black metal skyscrapers and blinding neon lights, Anvil suffers the same feeling of sadness and loss that his entire species suffers. Their natural habitat completely destroyed, Anvil's kind have no choice but to adjust to life in a world completely alien to them. Without the forests to provide deer, elk, and other animals, lahka are forced to feed on human prey. Unbeknownst to Anvil, his species dwell beneath Vanta City, raising humans as cattle and following a strict set of rules - no fear, no outsiders, no weakness. Strangers, even of their own kind, are killed on sight. The weak are culled without hesitation. There are too many big mouths to feed and not enough bodies to feed them. Anyone not contributing to their tightly knit society is removed without mercy. In Anvil's case, the whole of Vanta City is his buffet. However, he makes a point to keep only certain kinds of criminals on the menu. No innocents. No exceptions.

In his youth, Anvil used a combination of alcohol and illegally obtained prescription drugs to try to alleviate the constant feeling of displacement, despair, and confusion that affected his daily life. He was a desperate insomniac, drinking himself into a stupor to obtain much needed sleep. It wasn't quality sleep, but it was sleep nonetheless. In the future when he has matured, alcohol and drugs are replaced by much healthier things, like people-watching and connecting with his community. At this point in his life, alcohol is no longer a priority and more of a pastime, soon to be forgotten as something he used to do.

Other details in no particular order:

Shadow form is generally a glossy, black, featureless version of himself with no horns and no visible eyes. However, should this form become vantablack (i.e.: absorbing nearly all light, the purest black possible) then he is accessing the strongest capabilities of this form. Vantablack Anvil is capable of lifting and throwing several tons as if it weighed no more than a tennis ball. Shadow form is generally only used when motorcycle riding, fighting in an arena, or when escaping a tricky situation.

Anvil's species - the lahkra - have superior senses of smell, hearing, and taste. Not even werewolves can compare to their sense of smell and hearing. Though they lack visible noses, the roof of their mouths are pitted with several clutches of olfactory glands. Every inhale is accessing scent information about their environment and the creatures in it. Tasting the air and pressing one's tongue to these olfactory pits allows them to access even more information. Their eyesight is above human but not quite like a vampire or werewolf.

Despite having claws, Anvil doesn't use them much as a weapon. He prefers to punch, squeeze, and slam with his fists. Kicking is just as deadly. His brute strength is his greatest asset over the natural weapons of his species. Tooth and claw do little damage compared to his raw punching and gripping power.

Romantically speaking, Anvil is a surprisingly patient and gentle lover. Earlier mishaps in his youth taught him to be much more careful with his lovers. Nowadays, he's very much aware that he is massive in every way and one wrong move could mean disaster for an otherwise fun time. One-night stands have been the majority of his relationships and those that weren't didn't last very long. It's difficult to get along with a creature that can't emote like his peers can; who is hard to read or understand. It's exactly why he keeps out of committed relationships. Most people do not have the patience to learn his mannerisms in order to properly communicate with him in a way that is required for a romantic, serious relationship. It's too much work for them, too frustrating, too time consuming. For him, it's too heartbreaking to be reminded that he's too much trouble to get to know. He assumes that'll always be the case and resigns himself to one-night stands only, never expecting anything more. He probably has inadvertantly shot down any chances he had before they could blossom and doesn't know it; walked away from someone assuming they didn't want more when they did. In the end, it doesn't matter, because he eventually does find the love of his life in the most unexpected of places under the most unexpected and tragic of circumstances.

Unfiltered, unedited author's notes and commentary:

The main idea with Anvil is to take a well-known, well-loved, and perhaps tired stereotype and turn it on its head. The big unstoppable badass, leather-clad and all attitude, riding big black bikes and driving big black cars, always looking grim and like they've always got someone to kill or some mission to do.

So take a car, a beautiful '70 Dodge Charger, but make it the most monstrous, evil thing you've ever seen. Black that beauty out. Give it spikes. Give it a huge, black grill. Cover it with armor. Go full blown Mad Max style on that babe. Cover it with blood, guts, rust, whatever. But then you look under the hood, expecting some amazing beast of an engine... but instead you get a care package of soft warm blankets, tea, cookies, your favorite book, a warm bath, your favorite meal. All your favorite comfort things and all those good feelings that you need on a dark day.

That's Anvil. The trope of the big invisible Terminator badass, hard on the outside, but soft on the inside. Someone who if you haven't taken the time to get to know, you easily mistake for this giant asshole, but if you stop and really pay attention, you realize he's actually very observant, intelligent, and respectful. No patience for bullshit, a very to the point person who doesn't sugarcoat shit, but ultimately he's got the right idea about things. He's the type who will put a blanket over you when you've fallen asleep on the couch. Or bring you hot chocolate or tea on a cold day, without you even asking, just because he saw you shivering a little. He'll be the first to run into a burning building to save someone or save a drowning animal or person in the river. He doesn't think twice about helping people, no matter who they are, unless he knows for damn certain that they don't deserve it.

-----

While it may be true that he's not the kind of guy you want to meet alone in a dark alley at midnight, that's only true if you're a rapist, pedophile, murderer, etc. Otherwise, you're more safe with him than anyone else. He has no desire to hurt anyone undeserving of it and doesn't seek out a fight, but absolutely will rise to the occasion should someone ask for it. A rude, misogynistic comment towards a woman? Anvil will give a verbal lashing so harsh, the offender will wish he had never been born. But dare assault or even so much as make a move to do so in Anvil's presence? Enjoy a trip the hospital, baby, because you're gonna need it when he's done with you. Oh, and forget ever groping for woman again. Chances are that hand of yours he so easily crushed into a million pieces is going to need to be amputated. Sorry, bud! Maybe don't try to grab at and assault women next time!

-----

By protecting people, he learns about people. He studies them, watches them, learns of their joys and sorrows. Through experience, he can predict how certain people will react to things. He knows if he's called to protect a young rich girl, she's likely to get herself into trouble with young men who want her. She'll think she's in love, but the men just want her body. He knows he won't be able to convince her she's wrong about them; that he has to let her get hurt to learn. He knows when to step in, when the lesson is learned and it's time to stop it before the pain becomes trauma. And this is what I mean by empathy and compassion... Imagine it, she's in there, with the man she thinks she's in love with, but she's not ready and he wants her, so he tries to force her... and all the while, Anvil is leaning against the wall on the outside, listening, knowing this would happen because he's seen it dozens of times before.

And just in time, he comes barreling in, rips the guy off her, drags him out of the room, quietly whispers some terrifying stuff to him to teach him a lesson, and then returns to let the girl - only his client - cry on his chest. Lets her cry and rant about how hurt she is, how she should have listened, how he was right, etc. And he just holds her and says nothing, all while making no expression, but he doesn't need to... because his huge arms are soft and gentle around her and in that moment, he is the friend she needs.

And in that, he helps so many people by being just that - the friend they need, when they needed it. He's just their bodyguard, but right then, he was their friend. It'll leave a lasting impression on them. That girl will always remember the big huge mean looking monster she thought was a dumb brute, who stood up for her and protected her and gave her comfort when she needed it. She'll remember the lesson he taught her about trusting men and what her beauty really means to them. She'll remember the lesson about not to give her heart so freely, to really know someone before thinking she's crazy about them.

And it speaks volumes about his character. He is a very lonely, very sad person with a gigantic hole in his heart the size of a football field, but he still has it in him to give his love to anyone who needs it. If he sees someone in need, he helps. That said, if he sees someone doing wrong, they're as good as dead... depending on what they're doing. If he catches a rapist in the act, for example, he'll just straight up end them on the spot without any hesitation.

He figures if he can't have any real relationships of his own, the next best thing is what he does for his clients. It feels like friendship... at least for the time he's employed.

He has an interesting reputation. On one hand, he has the assassin scene being like, "Yeah, he's good. Just don't piss him off and don't fuck with him. He will murderlize you. He's scary." and then the other scene where all his clients, particularly the very old and very young, will all smile and say he's sweet. Of course, all of this takes time to develop. His early reputation is nothing but fear. Nothing but killing. But when he's around 45 and much more wise and experienced? He's earned a repuation as being as terrifying as he is sweet, depending on who you ask. This older version of Anvil commands respect not through fear, but because people have seen him stand up for justice and defend those who needed it. The younger version commanded respect through fear and intimidation, and if that happens nowadays, when he's older, that's completely because people are making a judgment of him based on his appearance and vibes alone. It's easy to take one look at him and go, "Oh shit I bet he'd rip my face off." Sure, if you're a total asshole, he will. But if not? Nah, he'll probably look at you out of the corner of his eye and wonder what you do for a living; wonder what you're feeling, how your day went, what your dreams are and if you're reaching them.

That event where he killed an innocent really changed him and made him grow up quite fast, so he really committed to taking the time and effort to not only navigate the world of crime in a way where he wasn't acting so selfishly and mercilessly, but also to find a way to change it. Not because he wants to hold all the power so he can rule or whatever, just so he can protect himself. He wants to be able to turn down a job and not be killed for it - as if he'd make that easy for anyone who tries. He has to make a living and in this world and, unfortunately, there's just not a lot of place for a guy like him to make a paycheck... but there are a lot of shitty people the world could do without. He just wants to make sure no one of value or innocence is lost by mistake and he sure as hell doesn't want to be responsible for that mistake. So his idea is to learn, observe, and insert himself in such a way that should he decide, "No, I won't kill that person for you and there's nothing you can do about it. In fact, maybe I'll kill you instead." there's really nothing anyone can do about it. He'll wipe out a whole organization if he has to, because if the head asshole is such a shitstain that he refused to take a job, chances are all the little drippings from that shitstain are also a blight worth scrubbing off the planet. Innocent people just trying to survive are sadly few and far between in this dystopian fiction.