Sisyphus Prime :: ULTRAKILL

Just a bit of background before anything else: this character is set within the world of ULTRAKILL. Humanity is extinct, the machines they left behind are invading Hell for blood because blood is fuel, and God disappeared well before the events of the game. After God vanished, Heaven found itself in a state of turmoil. Sisyphus capitalized on that and was further punished for it. Beyond that, he does not actually know much about Heaven's inner workings. Though he is smart enough to come to his own conclusions.

Those who speak of Sisyphus speak of struggles of futility, for death is, has always been, and always will be inevitable. There was a time, though, when it was not—when death was locked in a cage and boxed due to the cunning wiles of one man. Indeed, when Sisyphus was a mortal king, he caged death itself. This trick earned him the ire of Heaven, but he managed to escape death a second time. So it was that he lived his days without a hint of remorse, as he always had. His life was spent in debauchery and sin, and he loved every moment of it. Would that others could bleed such joy from this mortal coil. Sisyphus lived life as he ought to.

Ah, but death did come for him. When it did, King Sisyphus was condemned to Hell. But there is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn. What an absurd hero, this sinner. Oh, but a radiant one. He served his punishment, garnering the admiration and fealty of those who found themselves in the sway of this impossible man. For all that Sisyphus was—a liar, a cheat, and a murderer—he was above all else, a king. A tyrannical one, yes, but a king nonetheless. How could the common man not latch onto such a powerful presence, serving penance alongside him without ever truly feeling sorry for it? With the eyes of Heaven upon the Greed layer never wavering, Sisyphus’ fellow husks were doomed to admire in silence.

That admiration was not very well placed. It is always unwise to place one’s trust and hope in the hands of a man who acts thusly. Yet, it was there nonetheless. When Heaven fell silent and the angels disappeared from Hell, Sisyphus was swift to plot and plan. He had always been biding his time, truth be told. The spite of man is a powerful thing, and there is no creature more spiteful than he. The king would not make the mistake of starting a peaceful renaissance like King Minos. Oh, indeed, he had heard of the renewal of the Lust layer. Pacifist tactics have no place when fighting against the cruel. Sisyphus would know best, for he could be very cruel himself.

No, he rallied his fellow husks and called them to war. Many came, and together they formed an army that sought to earn Greed’s freedom through blood. All those hopeful soldiers gathered, dreaming of revolution against angels and archangels. Sisyphus always knew that they would lose. It was an absolute certainty. Even if he and his insurrectionists won the battle in Greed, they would never be able to win a full-scale war against the might of Heaven. Few of his followers were privy to such a truth. Those that were likely entertained similar thoughts to his, or they simply saw it as their only real chance at freedom. Whatever the case, Sisyphus’ reason for fighting was always simple: futility is the ultimate expression of rebellion. The spite of the act was more than enough to make him happy, no matter how many he dragged into punishment along the way.

When the angels returned, the battle was a swift and brutal thing. Archangel Gabriel, the Righteous Hand of the Father himself, recognized that King Sisyphus’ followers were entirely dependent on him. So it was that the divine crusader descended upon the gargantuan husk and beheaded him with his blades, demolishing the morale of Sisyphus’ army. It worked, and the entire chain of command fell apart, rendering the revolt a complete failure for all but Sisyphus.

Anyway, the most important part of all this is that Sisyphus was going to manifest as a prime soul. For context, a prime soul is a soul that has grown so powerful that it does not need a husk to have a physical form. They exist through will, and will alone. Heaven makes a concerted effort to imprison prime souls before they can fully manifest, so Sisyphus’ soul was imprisoned inside a flesh monstrosity known as the Flesh Panopticon. This is actually a superior version of the flesh prison typically used to jail these sorts of souls. There’s no real need to get into the reasons why, since it’s not really relevant at the moment.

Personality-wise, Sisyphus is all that he was in life and more. An absolute, unrepentant bastard. He lives every day like the last; he doesn’t have a single ounce of morality to offer, and he does anything and everything without remorse. So terribly inspiring. A glorious fucking degenerate. He is keenly intelligent, and his ability to manipulate really ought to be lauded. His kingly charisma has not faded at all. There is a commanding aspect to his nature that inspires him to lord over others, though the way he does it allows him to shine bright enough for those around him to not notice the red flags until it’s way too late. Like his army, for example.

As far as appearance goes, Sisyphus is an absolutely caked-up, muscle-bound beast of a man. He’s all soul, though. Primed and brimming with power, his body is a pure, translucent gold. His hands and feet are stained with blood, while his face is a mere red outline. He is, uh, really tall. Astonishingly so, in fact. Perhaps even scarily so, depending on one’s outlook. At least nine feet tall for sure. His heart and veins are fully visible, his body completely see-through. They beat red. Sisyphus’ head glows a bright white, positively blinding. He is completely naked and entirely shameless.

Combat with Sisyphus is a fool's errand. He is an insanely powerful foe and he is likely to grow stronger as time goes on. The fact that he can teleport bodes ill for his foes, but the sheer strength of his punches and kicks is plenty of a problem on its own. He does not need any weapons, his fists are more than enough. He can crush steel like it is nothing, and he will very much enjoy doing so.