Conception

The concept for Venge is not a totally original one.
He is the culmination of many closely related stories that caught my facination.
I then took the various concepts and created story that could possibly acomodate them all.

There are three main stories that were integral to Venge's background.

The first is The Crow . A normal person who, with the aid of a supernatural crow, returns to life to exact vengence. The most popular Revenant/Risen story to date.

The next is Death . Especially in the "High Cost of Living" graphic novel. One of the Endless who are the primordial entities of all creation, Death takes human form once a century to remain grounded.

The last, and possibly most obscure, is Basara . This character is probably the glue that brought it all together. He is a character from the Samari Showdown series of fight games. During the course of playing the first game he appeared in (SS3) I became facinated with his untold stoy. If he was victorious in the match (2 of 3 rounds) he would see the spirit of a woman who seemed to be someone whom he longed for. If he was victorious without losing a round in the match (2 of 2) he would get to hold her breifly. In either case, she would disappear which would cause him to cry out in anguish while collapsing.

Facinating. There might have been an actual story, but I could never understand it (didn't speak the lingo).

So then the gears began to turn. What if Basara was the Crow? What if the spirit was Death? How could all that be possible? And so the peices began to fall into place. Changing or warping certain parts of each story so that I may still call it my own. As it stands right now, little still remains of each story but is still good to look back at the origin.

Venge's original name was Death Dancer. And while it sounded pretty neat, it was just a mouthful to spit out continuously. Especially when reciting written dialoges. And really couldn't find anything else that would fit in the same way. So, I changed his name to represent what he was instead of how he did it.

Likewise, his costume has undergone a few changes in 15 years. The blades were originally attatched to metal bracers. It later plots and scripts, I have changed them to be actual Reaper Scythes that reapers can change to best fit their needs. Venge has chosen their current configuration because they fit a specialised 'dancing combat' technique he has created.

In addition, I gave him a mask instead of makeup. This change came about after I had concerns with figuring out what Venge did in his free time, and why he wasn't constantly plagued by officials from the scientific, religious, and governing communities.

More on this when the sun goes away.