background

early life

"My name's Pawn. I chose that because I always move forward." -Pawn

Pawn grew up heavily impoverished, typically only eating school provided lunches and a single meal of pancakes on the weekends. His classmates typically pitied him rather than actually liking him, though he did have one friend that he lost contact with as he got older. He had a habit of scavenging for food, taking anything his classmates didn't want to eat off their hands. While at home he hid the fact he was suffering from his parents, genuinely believing that they were in it together. At 18, however, Pawn was kicked out of the nest and subsequently lost all contact with his parents. His eating became disordered after leaving home: he has difficulty stopping himself from eating even when full, and he's willing to eat foods that others would consider unpalatable. He also grew up under a different name, choosing Pawn later in life. He never officially settled on a set of pronouns he liked, simply using he/him because others would automatically assume that was the pronoun set he used. He's adept at chess, but since the only people he's ever played against were elite members of his schools' chess clubs he considers himself to be subpar, often referring to himself as "the best of the worst."

prison sentence

"Can I ask a little about it, though?"
"You may ask one yes or no question."
"Did you actually do it?"
"Yes."
- Conversation between Pawn and Keepsake about his conviction

At some point in Pawn's life he committed a serious felony and ended up in jail. He never mentions precisely what the felony in question is, but he confesses that he did commit it and that it, in his mind, warrants the negative treatment that most give him as a convict. It's unclear how much jail time Pawn served, but it is known that he is at the end of his sentence and only needs a few more community service hours to be released back into society. Pawn feels immensely guilty about what he has done and has worked hard to make amends, though it's implied that he doesn't feel like he has done enough yet. Working with Riel to clean Dungeons is the last step of his rehabilitation plan, and he's determined to make it count. While in jail he lost a lot of the weight he had gained from his disordered eating early in life, but the underlying cause has been left unaddressed. He's hoping that by leading an active lifestyle, however, he won't have to try and fix it.

personality

Pawn lacks any sort of filter. He says whatever comes to mind to whoever happens to be around to listen. Notably he can stop himself from saying mean things when they're unwarranted and will refuse to confess to other people's crimes, living by the mantra of "snitches get stitches" as a means of survival. He uses humor to deflect and cope with his past and present, but this humor depends heavily on people not expecting the nonsense that comes out of Pawn's mouth. Though not necessarily polite, Pawn can be sweet and considerate when he wants to be. The easiest way into his heart is to prepare meals for him, and he will do his best to return the favor one way or another. Pawn takes most things in stride. Insults, strange occurences, and even pain roll off of him like water. Occasionally he will express annoyance at inconveniences or heckling, but for the most part he can simply ignore his problems and always seems calm in the face of terrifying situations. He quite literally goes to Hell and back without batting an eye. Though this mentality of "always move forward" is often helpful for him, it means that he doesn't get much emotional support or assistance when he needs it and struggles to ask people to do things for him. His resilience can often times be fatal as well, as he will repeatedly push himself to the point of passing out from exhaustion when doing his job and will in fact refuse to quit until either that happens or he gets to the bottom of the Dungeon he's working on. That said, if people are offering assistance he will almost always accept it.

relationships

gabriel "riel" ❤❤❤❤♡

Gabriel is Pawn's boss. They have a good working relationship. Pawn respects and at times even admires Riel, and Riel greatly appreciates Pawn's assistance. Riel worries about Pawn and does her best to take good care of him, but when he begins amassing strength she can't help but test it herself. Pawn is greatly appreciative of how Riel treats him as a normal person rather than as a poor kid or a cruel convict.

tab ❤❤❤❤❤

Tab is Pawn's first client. Tab is a top-tier chef that cooks lunches for both Pawn and Riel to eat while they work, so Pawn is naturally drawn to her. They chat over lunch frequently, and Tab becomes Pawn's close confidant. Pawn is admittedly a little perturbed by her habit of murdering people for skipping out on their restaurant bills, but she's such a kind person otherwise that he looks past that.

keepsake ❤❤❤♡♡

Keepsake and Pawn butt heads quite a bit during the story. Keepsake has a habit of heckling Pawn for his tendency to pass out and for being a human, and Pawn returns the favor. Keepsake has a special talent for pissing Pawn off in a way that overrides his typical 'get over it' attitude. Over time, however, Keepsake begins to respect Pawn's abilities and Pawn values Keepsake's assistance. Though Keepsake never stops being mean to Pawn, Pawn gradually stops responding to Keepsake's insults in favor of extending kindness to him. If you asked either of them personally they might confess to being friends, but if you asked them in the same room they would claim to hate each other.

seaquester ❤❤♡♡♡

Pawn and SeaQuester don't have a particularly strong dynamic. Pawn thinks of SeaQuester when asked about his friends, but since SeaQuester is a massive structure at the bottom of the ocean they don't really hang out. Pawn tries to keep SeaQuester company since it has become very lonely with the loss of all its researchers, and SeaQuester trusts Pawn enough to ask him to help it with its research, but that is the extent of their relationship.

beelzebub "bubbly" ❤❤❤♡♡

Pawn's relationship with Bubbly is lopsided. Since Bubbly is a powerful demon in charge of Hell's cleaning crew, she tends to see Pawn as a cute little pet rather than with the respect Riel regards him with. Pawn seems to seesaw between being amused or flattered and annoyed or upset. He's also hesitant to accept her assistance considering that it often comes with caveats, but her power is difficult to refuse in dire situations. If asked, Pawn would reluctantly admit to considering her a friend.

parents ❤❤❤♡♡

Though his parents basically abandoned him and went no-contact, Pawn still holds them dear in his heart. He wishes that he could reach out to them somehow, but recognizes that if they don't want to talk to him then there's nothing he can do.

god ♡♡♡♡♡

Pawn is known to have a negative relationship with the idea of God, but the reasons are left ambiguous. He openly expresses contempt for God whenever He's brought up, and isn't at all surprised to learn that He abandoned humanity.

relevant world lore

earth

Pawn is a human like the rest of us living on a version of Earth very similar to our own. He's heavily implied to live in America after a major reformation in labor laws. Though Pawn's ethnicity or race is never explicitly mentioned I associate him with Flamenco dance enough that if someone claimed he was Spanish or Latino I would not object.

gabriel's dungeon deep cleaning service

Gabriel's Dungeon Deep Cleaning Service cleans Dungeons, run by the Archangel Gabriel. Dungeons are essentially pockets of magical space that rearrange themselves to appear infinite and procedurally generated without actually being such (with the exception of Hell). Though Riel originally wanted a death-row inmate, legal reasons prevented one from being released into her care and she got Pawn instead. When asked about his working title, Pawn calls himself a Dungeon custodian.

neochristians

A subset of Christianity specific to Pawn's world. Many major subsects of Christianity have been combined into a soup of beliefs, since many people who were once Christian abandoned their faith. Those that remained formed this sect and are constantly scrambling to preach to the rest of the population about the Lord. To these Christians, evolution and biology are simply scientific analyses of how God constructed His creations. They're mostly correct about how God once functioned and how the world was made, but they're unaware of the fact that God has abandoned them and cancelled the Rapture. Though this subset is essentially the dregs of a dying religion, they dominated Pawn's younger life.

links

artfight: has high qual reference image, plus you can attack him!

trivia

• Pawn is transgender, but the direction is left ambiguous.
• Though Pawn prefers to maintain a masculine appearance, he willingly wears all his work uniforms. All of them are feminine, typically leaning into the maid dress look and sporting a skirt.
• Pawn enjoys sparring with his Dungeon Master friends and the pests in the dungeon, even when he loses.
• Pawn did not go to college.
• Pawn is bisexual with no preference.
• Though Pawn jokes about being clumsy in his day to day life, he cleans and fights with grace.
• Pawn does not find using a powerwasher to be particularly satisfying.
• Pawn's felony was serious enough that even though he's technically allowed to leave the country most security would turn him away at the gate.
• Pawn is fond of puns, especially "stupid" ones. He also likes making metagame jokes.
• Pawn used to have a comfort plush of a calico cat.
• Before going to jail Pawn worked at two restaurants, a hardware store, and a pet store.
• Pawn is in a crackship with my friend Frye's OC Bishop. It is noncanon to both of their worlds but it is something that sparks joy in my heart...

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