Ominous Biographies #1: Mael Part 1

Ominous Biographies #1: Mael Part 1
By Jay Penn

Character is the first building block of any story. Even before a writer has a story, or even a setting, or an idea, a character should be created. A character will establish motive, story arch and relationships with other characters, before the first word has been written.

A well-rounded character is crucial in creating a believable story, no matter what takes place in it or where it exists. Look at Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre, Captain Ahab, Druss the Legend, Drizzt, Frodo; all are well-rounded, and most importantly, fallible, beings. Holmes was a master detective, with an almost perfect brain for his vocation, but he was incapable of maintaining a friendship and was addicted to drugs. Frodo Baggins was a perfect candidate to carry the ring to Mordor; small, quiet and with an above average capacity for resistance. But he was slow to make decisions, and dependant on Samwise Gamgee.

My point is, nobody in the real world is perfect, and nor should a fictitious character be. It is the imperfections that make them enjoyable, recognisable. A point that Bart Sears was well aware of when he created the Ominous Press multiverse and its many varied characters. They are egotistical, proud, covetous, manipulative, insane (in several cases), vain, and much more.

How much do you really know about any of the Ominous Press characters, really? The truth is, just going by what was released to the public by way of comics, cards and interviews; there isn’t much information to gain.

Until now.

I’ve chosen the most visually recognisable character from Ominous Press to begin a series of Ominous Biographies on this Blog; our old friend Mael.

Firstly, here are the statistics on Mael found in Bart’s preliminary character notes and a few other sources.

Name: Maelloryll, Mael, Brute and Maellor
Height: 7’
Weight: Moderate to Heavy (450 lbs.)
Skin: Dark greenish, metallic
Hair: Red and yellow energy
Strength: Obviously considerable, though not yet measured
Intelligence: 8
Powers: Protective Shield, capable of surrounding self and others
Powerful energy discharges, drain energy
Power Balls, used in hands as small shields
Appearance: Like a muscular male figure, metallic
Mannerisms: Honorable
Protective of Auoro
Brave in battle, close to being arrogant
Powerful and confident mind

Your typical hero, really, when it comes down to it. But in reality, there’s a lot more to Ominous Press’ lead character than can be found in those character notes.

Let’s look at the hero as we first see him, in ‘It Begins.’ Mael has been searching for Auoro for a long time, without even a hint of where she can be found. He is almost beaten, and is grieved by this fact. He is deflated, exhausted and weary.
But through his mental link to her, Mael discovers her whereabouts, and worst of all, it is with somebody he considered a friend and fellow warrior. Mael’s anger at this realisation is both potent and instantaneous; he seems to be a being whose emotions flow from one extreme to another.

Mael is a being of great power, and of high prestige. He has his own palace, after all. He is a being who commands respect, as shown by the way he is addressed by Dramaurg’s ‘dog’ who greets him, even if he is being ‘led’ into a trap.

It seems that the only beings that get to treat him with anything less than respect are the main players of the piece, namely, Dramaurg, Moon and Snake. It is perhaps no coincidence that these characters have a past with Mael, for good or for bad. It is also with these characters that Mael’s arrogance and ego is matched. Bravado and self-glorification are the way of the great in this world.

Mael’s speech has always been interesting to me, as it says a great deal about the being he is and the world he lives in. Look at page 1 of It Begins, the introduction to the character. Mael, despondent and weary, says, ‘I have quested for years…?’ ‘Quested,’ not ‘searched,’ nor ‘looked’ – ‘quested.’ This word alone suggests that Mael is educated, but more importantly, he uses heroic terminology fluently. He goes on to say, on the same page, ‘…And woe to any who dare bar my way!!’ ‘Woe,’ another word that suggests education and free usage of heroic terminology, compounded by the fact that Mael has evoked two extreme emotions in a matter of moments, yet his vocabulary persists. This suggests that Mael’s use of these two unusual words is not a deliberate act, this is his natural speech and word choice. Look at practically any sentence uttered by Mael, and you will find evidence supporting this fact.

So, what are Mael’s shortcomings, either mentally or physically? Well, there are several, adding to the depth of the character.
Firstly, Mael is rather headstrong. He is firmly confident in his physical prowess, regardless of his adversary. Confidence is great, but it pays to know your enemy. In Infinity, Mael verbally jousts with the unseen ‘Dread Lord’ of the Molochs. If Mael knew who the ‘Dread Lord’ actually was, there is no doubt in my mind that he would not be quite so anxious to pick a fight with him.
It seems as though Mael can be a mislead judge of character. Mael alludes to being a past ally of Dramaurg’s, not to mention being trained by none other than everybody’s favourite comedic interlude team, Moon and Snake.
Physically, Mael is strong, no question about it. But he has his limits, which are reached during his battle with Moon and Snake, Viere and Dramaurg’s dogs. Sure it took him obliterating a whole troop of dogs, and ‘killing’ Moon and Snake, compounded with exhausting energy releasing Auoro from her bonds to reach his limit, but he none the less has a breaking point.

But Mael has a lot going for him as well. Sure, he can be beaten, but it will take a lot to beat him, and few beings are capable of bringing that amount of power necessary to the table. He may be slightly gullible to a point, but on the flip side of that particular coin is that he is predisposed to seeing the good in everybody.

So, that’s Mael for you, in a roundabout sort of way. This is only the first Blog to deal with Mael, other aspects of his character will be delved into at a later stage, but I thought I’d close this post with some words from Bart himself. I recently asked him for his thoughts on the character Mael, here’s what he had to say.

What do you think of the Mael that appeared in the published comics?

I thought the art came out well, the story was... too quick. Not developed enough. Needed expanding and fleshing out. Was a poor starting point, I think. Liked the dialogue, was supposed to be so, formal, I guess. Think I liked the wizard mini-best... even though that was all too much, too quick.

What would you change?

Not the basic story, though I would expand it very much. Would redesign everything, B&B was brought into Ominous that way, and done first, based on input and suggestions from successful people I knew... may have worked, but My story was too weak. Don't like the design of them/that world... not what it should be.

Your thoughts on the character himself now?

Like him, like the development, the back story, where it ends up. Ha! But I didn't develop it, within the comics, smartly, way back then.

A cool thing about Mael that the public doesn't know?

When he and Auoro merge, the being is the one who...

If OP returns, will he have a place?

Yep, but much different than we've seen.

So, who wants start the discussion?