Ref: Zermernanex Zerkezrax [WIP]

Notes:
›› The wings on his true form will be changed to that they match the wings seen at the bottom. Fixed.
›› Some anatomical errors will be fixed; one being the too wide shoulders on his humanoid form(s).
›› Maybe also fix the too wide shoulders on his true form. Fixed.
›› Fix that waist of his. More or less Fixed.
›› On the side view of the horns they will be made more even and not so thick in the middle.
›› The whole thing will be lined and properly colored - I just couldn't resist submitting this now. True form lined.

›› His age will be updated after each birthday that passes.

My respect to whoever reads the whole bio and, believe it or not, it is still a work in progress.

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True name: Zermernanex III Anpu Setekh Zerkezrax
Current name: Michael Seth Nightshade
Nicknames: Zerm, Mike, Monster, Psycho, Guardian Angel (among others)
Age: 2 681, assumed age is 36
Date of birth:
›› 20th December 666 BCE (Gregorian calendar)
›› 17th Lah'ash 15 123 (Mephistofilian calendar)
›› 17th Lah'ash 8 279 (Amentan calendar)
Gender: Male
Species: Dormanndio demon, shapeshifter



Personality: (rough)
He is easily described as a rather easy-going and calm man who doesn't seem to be easily triggered nor angered. He's someone who doesn't have any tendencies to take things too personally, as he commonly just shrugs everything off and there's nothing more to it.
What he's particularly known for is that he's very open-minded and fatherly and doesn't hesitate to help those in need, often acting like a surrogate father of sorts. He listens to their problems, gives advice and gives comfort.
He's someone who simply adores his children, biological or not, and he loves animals. Neither children nor animals are as judgemental as grown-ups tend to be and they have an innocence that he loves and actually admires.
Whenever someone becomes good friends with him, they quickly notice that he can be quite teasing but never means any harm. It is merely a sign of affection.
However, due to his long life and all the things that he has had to endure, there are times when he would need a shoulder to lean on, someone who could help him lift the burden that he carries. Alas, there aren't anyone who he wants to burden with his troubles and tends to keep most to himself - unless he's convinced to at least let go of some of it, even if it's just a small fraction.

Country of origin: Ancient Egypt/Ta-shema'ew (Northern Egypt; todays Southern Egypt, bordering to Sudan)
City of origin: Ament, Capital of the Demon Cities
Current residence: Riverfield, NY, USA
Languages spoken: Around 30, if not more, but many haven't been used in years. The mostly used languages are English, Italian, French, Spanish, Finnish, Arabic and the Demon language (Rienshkha).



Appearance: (see reference)
Hair color: Dark grey/blackish grey in true form / Green (alternatively black) in human(oid) form
Eye color: Red with a black sclera in true form / Yellowish green with a white sclera in human(oid) form
Clothing: While he commonly wears suits most of the time, it's only when he's working. Normally he has a more casual style that can easily be called "metalhead", alternatively "headbanger" - if one is to put a label on him.
Whenever he changes to his true form, he has a tendency to prefer his old Egyptian styled clothes that he wore in his youth. Modern clothes feels "unfitting" in his opinion.
Height: His true height is 2.8 m (9' 2.2"), but he's commonly seen as being 1.85 m (6' 0.8").
Weight: True weight is approximately 190-210 kg (418-462 lbs), but he's commonly seeming to weigh approximately 80 kg (176 lbs).
Wingspan: 7 m (26' 3")?

Orientation: Bisexual with panromantic tendencies
Relationship status: Single father of five
Children (current): Rain Nightshade (18, adopted), Ehura Nightshade (15, adopted), Marcus Nichols (15, biological), Ryder Rose-Nightshade (5, biological), Jamie Nightshade-Johnston (2, biological).
Children (past): N/A
Parents: Xermatre Zerkezrax (1090 BCE - 15 CE) and Cimra Zerkezrax (née Kiméena, 986 BCE - 1357 CE)
Siblings: Ziermeru Zerkezrax (665 BCE - 993 CE), Rozemre Reshem (née Zerkezrax, 664 BCE - 1002 CE), Xerx Zerkezrax (662 BCE - 1614 CE) and Zerz Zerkezrax (662 BCE - present).

Pets: Sutekh (ankhashya dragon), Meshkhenet (ankhashya dragon), Nerva (phoenix), Kemas (demon dog), Chanerus (demon dog), Etalpalli (scarlet macaw), Matlalihuitl (green-winged macaw), Meztli (blue-and-yellow macaw), Ihhuitl (military macaw), Ihuicatl (blue-throated macaw), Conláed (demon horse), Haukea (snowleopard), Chicahua (king cheetah), Tlanextli (white tiger), Cuetlachtli (wolf), Yohualcuauhtli (griffin), Cuauhihhuitl (griffin) and Ka (griffin).
Note: Sutekh and Meskhenet are mostly seen in the same size of a rat, among humans an illusion makes them look like normal lizards. Kemas, Chanerus and Cuetlachtli looks like normal dogs among humans. Conláed looks like a normal horse among humans.
However, Nerva, Yohualcuauhtli, Cuauihhuitl and Ka looks like eagles most of the time.



Occupation: Mafioso and (former) musician
Mafia: Notturno crime family
Rank: Capo bastone and consigliere, as well as a caporegime for a select few.
Bodyguards: Leonardo Carbone, Nerina Vicaro, Luca Terranova and Ronald O'Hearn.


Other facts:
Imprisonment:
›› Sentenced to 5 years for involuntary manslaughter, served only one in prison and one on probation.
Found guilty due to being the cause of another man's death; he fell and hit his head on the curb.
Sentence reduced due to calling the emergency central himself and admitting to the crime already on scene - no large trial was needed.
Released on probation for good behaviour and the prison needed to make room for new prisoners.

Magic: The standard, but strong demon magic that he almost exclusively uses. Unusually enough, he also knows a certain level of angel magic - granted to him by the Archangel Mikha'el. This magic is mainly used to catch angels off guard.
He practices his magic abilities whenever a chance is given and he has absolutely no need to utter anything out-loud, nor make any kind of movements. Much due to the fact that he constantly practices, it is very strong and younger demons wouldn't stand much of a chance against him.



Weapons/defences/etc:
›› Keen eye-sight, much like any other demon.
›› Keen hearing, like any other demon. However, he has the ability to "tone down" his hearing for his own sake.
›› Keen sense of smell, like other demons.
›› Highly skilled martial artist and tends to practise it whenever he has the chance.
›› Senses others presence - making it hard to sneak up on him - and can tell whether you're human or not. Sometimes he can sense what kind of powers the other ones has.
›› Has covered his own presence completely and it's near impossible to sense what he is.
›› Quick reactions and movements, may make moves too fast to be detected and reacts far quicker than most - it has saved his life on numerous occasions.
›› Sharp talons/claws from his demon form that can be extended to a certain length. Not necessarily only used when in true form, as they can be used in his other forms as well.
›› Quick self-healing, like any other demon, and can heal others as well - as he's a healer. The only downside is that the healing can not be used too often, or it will do more bad than it does good - it can be a cause of death.
›› He can conjure strong barriers/force fields that can take a lot of beating and he can decide if the barrier moves with him/the one he protects or not.
›› Strong walls/barriers around his own mind. However, if someone would enter his mind, they risk losing themselves in the vastness of it - unless they are saved by Michael/Zermernanex himself. The barriers are thus there to protect him, as well as to protect the careless.
›› Has the ability to read and even control minds - the latter only applies to weaker beings. However, this ability is only used on certain occasions as he prefers to let others have their privacy.
›› Despite not actually needing them, he does carry a gun and/or a knife, in case the use of magic is out of the question.

Weaknesses:
›› Easily his children, they mean the world to him and threats made against them is one sure-shot way of forcing him to give up.
›› Whenever his mind acts up on him. It makes him unable to use his powers to its full extent and he becomes weak - especially considering how strong he is otherwise. He can still handle humans fairly easily, but fellow magical creatures he stand no chance against.
The things Marianna did to him is a proof of it.
›› Holy objects. They make him suffer indescribable pain when it touches him and the burns they leave take a long time to heal - same goes for wounds caused by holy knives and such.
Fortunately, he has learned sense these objects even if they are hidden from view - most demons learn to do this.

Handedness: Ambidextrous, but is commonly mistaken for being left-handed.

Smoker: No, he's no fan of the bad smell.
Drinker: Drinks only on certain occasions. Highly tolerant.
Drugs: No, he detests them.

Illnesses:
›› It is believed that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. While it is true that he can hear voices and even see illusions of someone who doesn't exist, he still isn't schizophrenic as it is something else that is causing it. The exact cause is unknown.
›› Some believes that he suffers from some level of dissociative identity disorder (DID), which is wrong. While he may change into a different person, it isn't DID that he suffers from - it is a curse.

Curses:
He has been the victim on a number of curses, some indirectly and others directly. Only two have been with him for a very long time as some has worn off, while they haven't.
›› Curse of Zarmerna. A complicated curse created by Zarmerna long before Michael/Zermernanex's birth, when he was at the brink of dying. This curse allowed him to still live on in the body of his own relatives, but he always had to find a newborn for it to be possible.
Zarmerna's aim is to cause enough pain for his host that they ultimately kill themselves and he has succeeded with that so many times. Yet, Michael/Zermernanex was somehow different and Zarmerna has accidentally given him some of his own powers - one being the ability to shapeshift.
He has dedicated a large portion of his life finding a way to stop Zarmerna forever - despite that he knows that it might destroy himself.
›› A curse that forces him to help those he cares for or a headache will destroy him - a headache stronger than anything else.
He doesn't even need to see the person for the curse to kick in and he has to quickly go to the other's aid - unless the danger was too sudden for him to have done anything; if someone shoots/stabs someone he cares for at random.
However, it only works on those that he knows are alive. If he believes that someone is dead, the curse doesn't activate.
This curse was cast on him due to another demon blaming him of not caring enough about those around him; unbeknownst to the demon, the one who did not care was Michael/Zermernanex's brother. It was a case of mistaken identity, but it was already too late - the demon didn’t know how to remove the curse.
Fortunately, it seems as though it has started to fade off.

Undefined facts:
›› While it would seem ironic that a demon is called "Guardian Angel", there's a reason behind it.
Many who gets to know Michael/Zermernanex finds that he had a tendency to look after those around him and help them in whatever way he can, taking others under his protective wing.
Yet, he doesn't force his protection on others.
›› Mephistofilian calendar is counted from the year when Mephistofilis managed to unite the demons and become the first Demon King - he was killed and replaced by Rimmon after approximately 1 050 years of ruling.
›› Amentan calendar is counted from the year when a large number of demons managed to escape Hell and build the Demon cities in Ancient Egypt - the Capital being Ament.
›› The two demon calendars have 13 months; 28 days on each, except for the third month that has 29. The fourth month has 29 days on leap years, which occurs every fourth year.



Background/Story:
(coming)


Relationships (mentionable):
Sethos Osheeris-Zerkezrax/Psymon Osiris ›› Cousin's son/adoptive son. Born in April 1st, year 10. Demon.
Sethos was the biological son of Zermernanex's cousin Dakarai and his wife Bahiti. Zermernanex - and his first wife Sharifa - adopted Sethos after their passing; they were killed by demon slayers when Sethos was merely 5 years old.
Sethos never had to feel that he wasn't a 'real' son to Zermernanex as the latter treated him the same way as he treated his biological children.
Over the course of the years, they've encountered each other numerous times and have currently lived in the same country - the same city even - for over a hundred years.
It would be an understatement to say that Sethos looks up to his adoptive father very much and - while he's over 2000 years old - he still seeks the older demon's approval, although he does not truly show it.

Isabelle Alpini Procella Skelton-Henderson/Storm Skelton-Henderson ›› Granddaughter. Born in July 27th, 1388. Half demon.
The first time the two of them actually met was when Storm was the personal servant/maid of princess Cassilea.

Incaendiu Saevio/Wildfire Saevio ›› Friend. Born in January 28th, 1600. Demon.
Michael happened to be the very first person Incaendiu ended up meeting and feared the older demon would kill him, which did not happen. Instead Michael had offered to help him blend in with humans and learn how they behaves, as well as teaching him a few human languages, which sparked their friendship that still holds strong even to this day.
Unlike many fire demons, Incaendiu seems rather calm and collected - which he claims is due to the older demon's calm rubbed off on him.

Nero Night ›› Decendant. Born in February 15th, 1965. Half demon.
From childhood, Nero has looked up to Michael a great deal and as he grew older and got to take over as the Capo famiglia of Notturno crime family, he always valued the older demon's opinions highly. Even when he didn't want to hear opinions.
Michael was also the one who finally helped him get out of his alcoholism, which had lasted from 1990 to 1995 and had nearly ruined his life. However, it would be wrong to say that Michael hadn't tried to help long before, it was simply in '95 when he had finally had enough and Nero's alcoholism had been at its worst.
Ever since becoming sober again, Nero and Michael's friendship has improved thousandfold and it isn't unusual that the latter is invited on family dinners with the previous and his family.

Rain Nightshade ›› Adoptive daughter. Born in June 4th, 1996. Werewolf.
Michael found her as a newborn and due to her being at such poor health, he decided to nurse her back to health before taking her to someone who would ensure that she'd end up in a good home - the latter never happened.
He had begun calling her Rain due to that it was a rainy day when he found her and never really believed that it would eventually become her name, nor had he anticipated that he would grow so attached to her that he adopted her.
The adoption was a fairly lengthy process, but with some help from various contacts - he managed to adopt her.

Ehura Nightshade (formerly Fletcher) ›› Adoptive daughter. Born in January 20th, 2000. H.S. Erutilus.
Michael's first encounter with young Ehura wasn't during the best of times. The, then 8-year-old, Ehura was being attacked by teenagers who treated her like trash for living on the streets with ragged clothing and unnaturally red hair. One of the teenagers even quenched his cigarette against her skin, before Michael came to put a stop to it all - he had acted the moment he spotted the little child in their midst.
After ensuring her that he meant no harm, she followed him inside his home and he began taking care of her. She ended up staying with him and after saving her from her biological father, Michael once again began the process of adoption.
He received the answer only a day before her 9th birthday and decided to keep it a secret until the next day - a birthday gift from him.

Marcus Nichols-Nightshade ›› Biological son. Born in May 25th, 2000. Half demon.
The son of Michael and his then girlfriend Tammy.
Michael mental health had deteriorated rapidly around Marcus' birth and while he was present when his son was born, he soon cut the ties with him and Tammy. Tammy knew that Michael was unwilling to force them to endure the difficult time that he was going through, he severed the ties to avoid them getting hurt in any way. Yet, he did his fatherly duty by paying alimony every month.
It took four years for Michael to return to his normal state, but by then he felt that there was a possibility that he would no longer be welcomed into their lives again and decided to remain absent - this was out of fear.
It wasn't until Ehura befriended Marcus that Michael met his son again and they began making up for the time that they had missed out on.

Samandriel / Sam Nightshade ›› Adoptive son. Born in 2008. Angel.
The biological son of Erathael and Adelphiel.
Sam first encountered Rain when he ended up running into her when he was fleeing from his "caretaker" Seraphiel. When Seraphiel caught up with him, Sam believed that he would end up back in his poor care when Michael intervened. Rather than engaging Michael in a fight, Seraphiel chose to flee - it was clear that the two men knew each other.
TBA

Ryder Rose-Nightshade ›› Biological son. Born in February 15th, 2010. Half demon.
The son of Michael and Chanelle.
Ryder was in no way planned and it was a mistake on Michael's part to ever get involved with Chanelle in such a way - although, it had been Chanelle that had lured him in. He dislikes Chanelle for this reason, but it would be wrong to say that Michael doesn't care for his son as he does quite the opposite - he adores him as much as his other children.
While Ryder had mainly lived with his mother, he has lived with his father for the past months due to his mother's increasingly poor health.

Jamie Nightshade-Johnston ›› Biological daughter. Born in November 30th, 2013. Half demon.
The daughter of Michael and Jane.
The two were together for a few months, but due to the distance between them they decided it would be for the best to break up - neither wishing to leave the town/city they lived in. It was shortly after the break-up that Jane found out that she was pregnant, at first she did not know whether or not to tell Michael about it. After some consideration - and a talk with her mother - she decided to break the news and he had been equally surprised as she had been. She decided to keep the child and the two had agreed to that the coming baby would live with her full time, although the plan was that Jane would occasionally come and visit Michael with Jamie.
It seemed that it was how it would be, when Jane was in an unfortunate car accident where she lost her life only a year after Jamie's birth.
At first, little Jamie lived with Jane's mother, when Claire decided that it would be for the best that Jamie would be with her father. Needless to say, Michael was surprised by this decision, but he agreed to take custody of his daughter.
It was the least he could do.

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Rain (and Adelphiel) © Kim, Thewolfdance
Ehura © Sofie, aralei
Samandriel/Sam © Kim and me
Zermernanex/Michael and art © M.J. Karppinen, Skeleton-Hellflame

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