This isn't finished - I'm still trying to find a good picture, and fill out the connections, and make the audition, and I'll probably draft up some additional puppets - but I just wanted to post it to prove that I'm still working on the darn thing and maybe get some feedback.
AS...
His Appearance:
A Proud Member of the Carnival Family Since: August 11th, 1963 (date of first contract); August 11th, 1958 (date of arrival)
The Carnival's Resident: Puppetmaster and Ventriloquist extraordinaire / Handyman and Fixer-upper / Demon Jailer
- "I will not disobey the Ringmaster."
Why He Joined the Circus:
Once upon a time (which is how every good story starts) there was a little boy and a little girl. This was Colin, and his twin sister, Maisie. Little Colin and little Maisie were orphans, passed between orphanages and foster homes like a bad cold for as long as they could remember. One day, at yet another orphanage, they overheard the sister superior saying that the twins would be split up, and sent to different homes a very, very long way away.
They ran away that very same day.
Lost and hungry, the twins wandered until they arrived at the most magical place in the world: the Circus. It was like nothing they had ever seen, filled with sounds and smells and tastes and sights unlike anything else anywhere. The twins fell instantly in love, and when the Circus packed up and moved on to its next destination, it was with two new members in its ranks.
Years passed, and little Colin and little Maisie weren't so little anymore. On the day they turned eighteen, the Ringleader - the father of their happy, shiny new family - offered them the chance to join the fight against the forces of Chaos, and they agreed immediately. Colin became a magnificent ventriloquist and jailer of the Circus's unfortunate prisoners, and Maisie became a sword swallower and swordswoman of preternatural skill. Some say she was the best the Circus had ever seen. With their new lives and new duties, the Mirthright twins lived happily ever after, because that is how all good stories end.
Such a shame, then, that this isn't a "good" story, and no proper tale is complete without a little tragedy...
Biography
At some point in the eighties (that's the ones in the twentieth century; thanks to how old some members of the Circus are, it helps to be specific), Colin decided that he needed to take a break from the Circus, and when his most recent contract was up, he set off on a sabbatical. He ended up finding a job at the Jim Henson Creature Shop, where he did some work on the puppets that would appear in Labyrinth. It was a good way to develop his skills as a puppeteer and creator of puppets, and it was a breath of fresh air to step away from the Circus, although he knew he would go back one day.
But he didn't realize just how soon that day would be, and the awful news he would receive.
While Colin was away, Maisie stayed with the Circus, becoming one of the best daemon slayers the Ringleader had ever seen, and probably ever would see. In battle, she was a brilliant blur of bright colors and flashing steel, trailing blood and laughter wherever she went.
But one mission, she bit off more than she could chew, and Maisie Mirthright never came home.
At the news, Colin raced back to the Circus, but his sister was already gone. After that horrible, dark day, Colin was never the same. He was quieter, more muted. He still loved the Circus like his family, and the Ringmaster like a father, but he began to prefer keeping his own company, and tending to his puppets. In the years since Maisie's loss, he's made remarkable strides towards becoming the joyous man he once was, but he still has a long way to go.
Connections
- TO BE FILLED IN
Audition
- Here, I want you to describe your character's act from the perspective of one of the visitors of the Circus. It should evoke a sense of wonder, of joy, of excitement, or some other emotion. Have fun with this. I expect it to have a beginning, middle, and end. No novels are needed, but this will be the main deciding factor in accepting or rejecting the CS.
His Puppets:
Aside from his impressive collection of mundane puppets, both handmade and acquired over the years, Colin's "Special Collection" is made up of a very special kind of puppet. The Circus doesn't always destroy the demons it faces; sometimes, they're left with prisoners, and it's part of Colin's job to keep them locked up. His magic, bestowed by his contract with the Ringmaster, allows him to imprison demons inside specially-created puppets of Colin's own design, each one with some magical component at its core and hidden runic inscriptions turning them into the perfect jail cells.
Typically, these Puppets are indistinguishable from mundane puppets, except when they're in Colin's hands. Colin is able to "channel" these imprisoned demons, using his ventriloquism to speak through their puppets. This also gives Colin control over the magical abilities they had in life, which are also transmitted through the puppets.
Colin's puppets fall into one of three classes, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.
Dummies
The classic ventriloquist's dummy (although most of them would rather not be reminded of the fact). Dummies are manually operated through one hand shoved up where the sun don't shine. Dummies are typically the weakest of Colin's puppets, containing minor demons such as imps, will-o'-the-wisps, and lesser spirits. They're used more for utility and performance than combat, but that's not to say they don't have inherent advantages over the other classes. Since they're so weak, Colin can use two of them at a time (one on each hand), and still retain almost total control over their magical abilities. This allows Colin to combine their powers, giving them impressive versatility. Still, given the choice Colin would use a Marionette or a Costume for combat, but Dummies are the mainstays of his performances at the Circus.
Marionettes
A type of puppet operated by strings attached to points of articulation. Marionettes are the happy medium between the versatility of the Dummy and the brute force of the Costume. They are used to contain demons of "average" strength - examples - and like all of Colin's puppets, they retain their magic and personality, with Colin literally pulling the strings. Unlike Dummies and Costumes, which remain in constant contact with Colin by design, Marionettes are able to keep some distance from their puppetmaster, roaming at most fifty feet from him. They still have strings, but those are mostly aesthetic, if we're being totally honest here. Colin controls the Marionettes through magic.
Unlike Dummies, which are by and large pushovers, Marionettes are a bit more difficult to operate. Colin can only use one at a time, and he remains in control, but the marionette is entirely capable of exerting its own control in a moment of weakness.
Costumes
The heavy hitters of Colin's collection. Costumes are used to contain demons too powerful for Dummies or Marionettes - ogres, witches, wraiths - and accordingly, are only used sparingly, and with the Ringmaster's permission.
Costumes are, in the simplest terms, costumes with animatronic components, ranging from man-sized to as big as a car. Thanks to Colin's magic, he is able to operate even the largest alone, but the most powerful Costumes are as much a danger to his allies as his enemies. Given half the chance, the demons imprisoned in Costumes would break free and rampage through the Circus, and it takes everything Colin has just to direct that animosity at whatever he wants to get smashed. Costumes are only ever used when they are absolutely necessary, and even then, only with the Ringmaster's explicit permission.
Kammie the Weasel
"AND I CAN DANCE WITH YA HONEY, IIIIF YA THINK IT'S FUNNY, DOOOEEES YA MOTHER KNOW THAT YOU'RE OUT?"
Class: Dummy
History: A kamaitachi who crossed the Circus's path outside of Nagano in the sixties. She was one of Colin's first puppets, and she's probably the most fond of him out of all the Puppets in his Special Collection. She'd still love-love-LOVE to bust out of her Puppet and cut him to ribbons in the process, but hey, he's a nice kid. Like a little brother to her. But really, the main reason for her good behavior is that she's a natural diva and loves to perform. Particularly the best hits of ABBA, which she runs through a squeaky woodchipper.
Appearance: A cartoonish weasel wearing a kimono. She was one of the first Puppets Colin ever made, so she's got some flaws - her eyes aren't symmetrical, and the sleeves of her kimono aren't equally long, for example - but that just gives her character.
Abilities: Kammie grants minor aerokinetic powers, and she's especially good at creating sharp, cutting winds. She also makes Colin much more nimble, allowing him to jump far higher than he would be able to normally.
Peter Pyro
"I don't want to set the wooorld ooon fiiireee... ooh, wait, no, wait, I do! Silly me, always forgetting."
Class: Dummy (stick puppet, specifically)
History: Peter was a will-o'-the-wisp that wandered into the Circus one day, spent some time looking at all the sights, and decided: hey, you know what would really improve this place? A bit of fire everywhere. Thankfully, his capabilities didn't measure up to his aspirations, and he was easily captured in a mason jar after destroying a funnel cake stand that needed to get replaced anyway. Colin made a puppet to contain the little fire spirit, where he has remained ever since as one of his more agreeable puppets. Honestly, he's a nice enough guy, even if he's ironically not very bright and always trying to convince Colin that it would be a great idea to set something on fire, you know? It doesn't have to be something big, Pete's not greedy, but he's not going to complain if it screams a little bit. Personal preference. Please?
Appearance: A fireball with a mouth and large, round eyes on top of a stick.
Abilities: Peter gives Colin minor pyrokinetic abilities, letting him create and control fire. He's also able to set himself on fire, never burning up despite being made mostly out of felt and giving off light like a torch.
Buster d' Troll
"Lots people say, 'Buster, you big an' ugly an' stupid an' smell bad'. Den dey say 'no, no, please don' rip moi leg off, oh no, you jus' ripped moi leg off, argh'."
Class: Costume
History: Buster d' Troll was encountered by the Carnival lurking under a bridge near Luxembourg back in the seventies. He was exceptionally resilient, even by troll standards, and it was eventually decided that flat out killing him would be too much work. And that's why he's now stuck in a Costume the size of a sedan. He's one of Colin's most used Costumes, mostly because his distinct lack of anything like intelligence makes him very easy to control by Costume standards. Still, most members of the Circus know that it's wisest to give Buster a wide berth in a fight. There's some debate on what constitutes a "safe distance", the general consensus is around a full city block.
Appearance: Twice the size of a very large man, Buster is mostly sculpted foam around a fiberglass skeleton, and he looks like a butt-ugly, grayish-green, hairless gorilla with bad posture and a beer belly.
Abilities: Buster is basically a truck with a single digit IQ and a short temper. Extremely strong, not very fast, and amazingly hard to hurt, even if he's made out of foam. Buster is Colin's main front-line fighter, dragged out of storage whenever something needs very badly to be introduced to Buster's club, Buster Jr.
The Porcelain Woman
Class: Marionette
History: Nobody knows. Colin doesn't talk about where she came from; in fact, he doesn't like talking about her at all. She stays locked up in her own trunk, buried in the back of Colin's wagon. The only reason anybody even knows that she exists is because of the one time she was ever seen, during a massive siege on the Circus back in the nineties. The Ringleader begged Colin to bring "her" out, and Colin nearly broke his compulsion and refused. Finally, he relented, and the Porcelain Woman was seen for the first and only time as he carried her out of storage.
The next day, the assaulting army had been broken and was on the run. The only people who saw the battle were sworn to secrecy by the Ringleader himself, and Colin hasn't brought her out since.
Appearance: Large for a Marionette, the Porcelain Woman just a bit smaller than Colin, made out of cracked, weathered porcelain. She wears a pristine white dress, with no shoes or jewelry. She has long, black hair, and green eyes that look like they were plucked from a human face.
Abilities: The only people who know aren't telling, but it's clear that she displays remarkable power for a Marionette.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CHILDREN AT PLAY AND CHILDREN AT HEART, THE CIRCUS OF THE SUPERNATURAL IS PROUD TO PRESENT
COLIN MIRTHRIGHT
AS...
THE STRINGMASTER
and his GAGGLE OF COLORFUL CONTRAPTIONS
His Appearance:
A Proud Member of the Carnival Family Since: August 11th, 1963 (date of first contract); August 11th, 1958 (date of arrival)
The Carnival's Resident: Puppetmaster and Ventriloquist extraordinaire / Handyman and Fixer-upper / Demon Jailer
- "I will not disobey the Ringmaster."
Why He Joined the Circus:
Once upon a time (which is how every good story starts) there was a little boy and a little girl. This was Colin, and his twin sister, Maisie. Little Colin and little Maisie were orphans, passed between orphanages and foster homes like a bad cold for as long as they could remember. One day, at yet another orphanage, they overheard the sister superior saying that the twins would be split up, and sent to different homes a very, very long way away.
They ran away that very same day.
Lost and hungry, the twins wandered until they arrived at the most magical place in the world: the Circus. It was like nothing they had ever seen, filled with sounds and smells and tastes and sights unlike anything else anywhere. The twins fell instantly in love, and when the Circus packed up and moved on to its next destination, it was with two new members in its ranks.
Years passed, and little Colin and little Maisie weren't so little anymore. On the day they turned eighteen, the Ringleader - the father of their happy, shiny new family - offered them the chance to join the fight against the forces of Chaos, and they agreed immediately. Colin became a magnificent ventriloquist and jailer of the Circus's unfortunate prisoners, and Maisie became a sword swallower and swordswoman of preternatural skill. Some say she was the best the Circus had ever seen. With their new lives and new duties, the Mirthright twins lived happily ever after, because that is how all good stories end.
Such a shame, then, that this isn't a "good" story, and no proper tale is complete without a little tragedy...
Biography
At some point in the eighties (that's the ones in the twentieth century; thanks to how old some members of the Circus are, it helps to be specific), Colin decided that he needed to take a break from the Circus, and when his most recent contract was up, he set off on a sabbatical. He ended up finding a job at the Jim Henson Creature Shop, where he did some work on the puppets that would appear in Labyrinth. It was a good way to develop his skills as a puppeteer and creator of puppets, and it was a breath of fresh air to step away from the Circus, although he knew he would go back one day.
But he didn't realize just how soon that day would be, and the awful news he would receive.
While Colin was away, Maisie stayed with the Circus, becoming one of the best daemon slayers the Ringleader had ever seen, and probably ever would see. In battle, she was a brilliant blur of bright colors and flashing steel, trailing blood and laughter wherever she went.
But one mission, she bit off more than she could chew, and Maisie Mirthright never came home.
At the news, Colin raced back to the Circus, but his sister was already gone. After that horrible, dark day, Colin was never the same. He was quieter, more muted. He still loved the Circus like his family, and the Ringmaster like a father, but he began to prefer keeping his own company, and tending to his puppets. In the years since Maisie's loss, he's made remarkable strides towards becoming the joyous man he once was, but he still has a long way to go.
Connections
- TO BE FILLED IN
Audition
- Here, I want you to describe your character's act from the perspective of one of the visitors of the Circus. It should evoke a sense of wonder, of joy, of excitement, or some other emotion. Have fun with this. I expect it to have a beginning, middle, and end. No novels are needed, but this will be the main deciding factor in accepting or rejecting the CS.
His Puppets:
Aside from his impressive collection of mundane puppets, both handmade and acquired over the years, Colin's "Special Collection" is made up of a very special kind of puppet. The Circus doesn't always destroy the demons it faces; sometimes, they're left with prisoners, and it's part of Colin's job to keep them locked up. His magic, bestowed by his contract with the Ringmaster, allows him to imprison demons inside specially-created puppets of Colin's own design, each one with some magical component at its core and hidden runic inscriptions turning them into the perfect jail cells.
Typically, these Puppets are indistinguishable from mundane puppets, except when they're in Colin's hands. Colin is able to "channel" these imprisoned demons, using his ventriloquism to speak through their puppets. This also gives Colin control over the magical abilities they had in life, which are also transmitted through the puppets.
Colin's puppets fall into one of three classes, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.
Dummies
The classic ventriloquist's dummy (although most of them would rather not be reminded of the fact). Dummies are manually operated through one hand shoved up where the sun don't shine. Dummies are typically the weakest of Colin's puppets, containing minor demons such as imps, will-o'-the-wisps, and lesser spirits. They're used more for utility and performance than combat, but that's not to say they don't have inherent advantages over the other classes. Since they're so weak, Colin can use two of them at a time (one on each hand), and still retain almost total control over their magical abilities. This allows Colin to combine their powers, giving them impressive versatility. Still, given the choice Colin would use a Marionette or a Costume for combat, but Dummies are the mainstays of his performances at the Circus.
Marionettes
A type of puppet operated by strings attached to points of articulation. Marionettes are the happy medium between the versatility of the Dummy and the brute force of the Costume. They are used to contain demons of "average" strength - examples - and like all of Colin's puppets, they retain their magic and personality, with Colin literally pulling the strings. Unlike Dummies and Costumes, which remain in constant contact with Colin by design, Marionettes are able to keep some distance from their puppetmaster, roaming at most fifty feet from him. They still have strings, but those are mostly aesthetic, if we're being totally honest here. Colin controls the Marionettes through magic.
Unlike Dummies, which are by and large pushovers, Marionettes are a bit more difficult to operate. Colin can only use one at a time, and he remains in control, but the marionette is entirely capable of exerting its own control in a moment of weakness.
Costumes
The heavy hitters of Colin's collection. Costumes are used to contain demons too powerful for Dummies or Marionettes - ogres, witches, wraiths - and accordingly, are only used sparingly, and with the Ringmaster's permission.
Costumes are, in the simplest terms, costumes with animatronic components, ranging from man-sized to as big as a car. Thanks to Colin's magic, he is able to operate even the largest alone, but the most powerful Costumes are as much a danger to his allies as his enemies. Given half the chance, the demons imprisoned in Costumes would break free and rampage through the Circus, and it takes everything Colin has just to direct that animosity at whatever he wants to get smashed. Costumes are only ever used when they are absolutely necessary, and even then, only with the Ringmaster's explicit permission.
Kammie the Weasel
"AND I CAN DANCE WITH YA HONEY, IIIIF YA THINK IT'S FUNNY, DOOOEEES YA MOTHER KNOW THAT YOU'RE OUT?"
Class: Dummy
History: A kamaitachi who crossed the Circus's path outside of Nagano in the sixties. She was one of Colin's first puppets, and she's probably the most fond of him out of all the Puppets in his Special Collection. She'd still love-love-LOVE to bust out of her Puppet and cut him to ribbons in the process, but hey, he's a nice kid. Like a little brother to her. But really, the main reason for her good behavior is that she's a natural diva and loves to perform. Particularly the best hits of ABBA, which she runs through a squeaky woodchipper.
Appearance: A cartoonish weasel wearing a kimono. She was one of the first Puppets Colin ever made, so she's got some flaws - her eyes aren't symmetrical, and the sleeves of her kimono aren't equally long, for example - but that just gives her character.
Abilities: Kammie grants minor aerokinetic powers, and she's especially good at creating sharp, cutting winds. She also makes Colin much more nimble, allowing him to jump far higher than he would be able to normally.
Peter Pyro
"I don't want to set the wooorld ooon fiiireee... ooh, wait, no, wait, I do! Silly me, always forgetting."
Class: Dummy (stick puppet, specifically)
History: Peter was a will-o'-the-wisp that wandered into the Circus one day, spent some time looking at all the sights, and decided: hey, you know what would really improve this place? A bit of fire everywhere. Thankfully, his capabilities didn't measure up to his aspirations, and he was easily captured in a mason jar after destroying a funnel cake stand that needed to get replaced anyway. Colin made a puppet to contain the little fire spirit, where he has remained ever since as one of his more agreeable puppets. Honestly, he's a nice enough guy, even if he's ironically not very bright and always trying to convince Colin that it would be a great idea to set something on fire, you know? It doesn't have to be something big, Pete's not greedy, but he's not going to complain if it screams a little bit. Personal preference. Please?
Appearance: A fireball with a mouth and large, round eyes on top of a stick.
Abilities: Peter gives Colin minor pyrokinetic abilities, letting him create and control fire. He's also able to set himself on fire, never burning up despite being made mostly out of felt and giving off light like a torch.
Buster d' Troll
"Lots people say, 'Buster, you big an' ugly an' stupid an' smell bad'. Den dey say 'no, no, please don' rip moi leg off, oh no, you jus' ripped moi leg off, argh'."
Class: Costume
History: Buster d' Troll was encountered by the Carnival lurking under a bridge near Luxembourg back in the seventies. He was exceptionally resilient, even by troll standards, and it was eventually decided that flat out killing him would be too much work. And that's why he's now stuck in a Costume the size of a sedan. He's one of Colin's most used Costumes, mostly because his distinct lack of anything like intelligence makes him very easy to control by Costume standards. Still, most members of the Circus know that it's wisest to give Buster a wide berth in a fight. There's some debate on what constitutes a "safe distance", the general consensus is around a full city block.
Appearance: Twice the size of a very large man, Buster is mostly sculpted foam around a fiberglass skeleton, and he looks like a butt-ugly, grayish-green, hairless gorilla with bad posture and a beer belly.
Abilities: Buster is basically a truck with a single digit IQ and a short temper. Extremely strong, not very fast, and amazingly hard to hurt, even if he's made out of foam. Buster is Colin's main front-line fighter, dragged out of storage whenever something needs very badly to be introduced to Buster's club, Buster Jr.
The Porcelain Woman
Class: Marionette
History: Nobody knows. Colin doesn't talk about where she came from; in fact, he doesn't like talking about her at all. She stays locked up in her own trunk, buried in the back of Colin's wagon. The only reason anybody even knows that she exists is because of the one time she was ever seen, during a massive siege on the Circus back in the nineties. The Ringleader begged Colin to bring "her" out, and Colin nearly broke his compulsion and refused. Finally, he relented, and the Porcelain Woman was seen for the first and only time as he carried her out of storage.
The next day, the assaulting army had been broken and was on the run. The only people who saw the battle were sworn to secrecy by the Ringleader himself, and Colin hasn't brought her out since.
Appearance: Large for a Marionette, the Porcelain Woman just a bit smaller than Colin, made out of cracked, weathered porcelain. She wears a pristine white dress, with no shoes or jewelry. She has long, black hair, and green eyes that look like they were plucked from a human face.
Abilities: The only people who know aren't telling, but it's clear that she displays remarkable power for a Marionette.
