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| “ | Gabriel: You did it. You killed all of them, didn't you? Darius: So what if I did? I can breathe easier, pay closer attention, actually enjoy my days now that they're gone! The world is a better place without them. |
„ |
| ~ Darius to his friend Gabriel after he confronts him. |
Darius Valleman is the main protagonist of the Ascension duology, serving as the main protagonist in Ascension and the main antagonist in the sequel Descension.
He was a brilliant high school student who encountered a mysterious power known only as the Crimson Tether, which had the power to control the mind of the victim the thread attached itself to. Despite being somewhat initially opposed the idea, the power soon corrupted him to become a cunning and callous individual to strive for the respect he greatly desired, killing many people along the way including his own best friend.
Personality[]
| “ | Darius: It's wrong to take control of people against their will. It's unethical, even. Id: Is that so?... I will admit, that is the first time I've heard such a thing... but you are not the first to lie. |
„ |
| ~ Darius's thin facade of morality. |
Even before encountering the Tether, Darius tended to exhibit a few sociopathic tendencies. According to his bully (and former friend) John, he always believed he was better than other people, simply because of his own intellect. Darius's superiority complex has been with him since he was a child, and he mistreats anyone he views as lesser. He even laments about how his best friend Gabriel would be "lost without him," as if to say that without Darius, Gabriel would be completely helpless in the academic field. He also craved respect from peers and everyone around him, which sent him into depression and general boredom. He was being constantly harassed by John and since he was at the top of his class, felt as if there was nothing special about it since he perceived no one gave him the respect that he feels he deserves.
He masks his quiet suffering quite well, hiding behind a veneer of success and joy, at least towards his parents. This worked so well, they believe he is simply overworking himself and that he needs to loosen up a bit to solve his problems.
When he encounters and gains the power of the Crimson Tether, it brings out his sociopathic behavior to an extreme. While initially showing regard for the fact that the power to control people against their will is unethical, this is merely to upkeep his ongoing facade, which begins to break as he grew curious with how the power worked. As the use of the power becomes more frequent, he slowly slips over the edge of complete sociopathy to even bordering psychopathy. After being beat by John's friends, Darius kills him in retaliation believing he sent them, While Darius might have not shown it, Id noted that Darius must have felt pleasure from murdering John.
Though Darius has felt remorse, it is quickly erased by either his own ego or refusing to take responsibility for his own actions.
During his torment of Detective Michael, Darius made his complete transformation into a full-blown sadistic sociopath who now has goals to take control of the world, finally garnering infinite praise and support that he so desired during his lifetime. He also uses his cunning to tear Michael's life from the inside out, purely for the sake of sadism.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Darius was born to Marie and Joseph Valleman, and grew up in the rebuilt United States. Growing up, he befriended John DeBaptiste, only to part ways in middle school. After being accepted to a prestigious private high school, Darius rose to become the top of his class and befriended Gabriel, who helped him get through his first year at the school.
Ascension[]
During an especially rainy day, Darius is harassed by John, the former who insults the latter. In response, Darius is beaten up by John and left to the sidewalk, bloodied and bruised. Annoyed, Darius thinks about how John can indeed, count before noticing an ominous red mass floating from the ground mere feet from him. A voice beckons Darius, and he walks over, and touches it. The intensity of the power absorbed knocks him unconscious, and he is found by Gabriel, who saw him bloodied and unresponsive. Darius wakes up in a hospital bed, much to the relief of his parents. Darius looks at his new fur color, which has been turned from blue to red, and smiles.
A few days later, Darius drives home with his parents, released from the hospital with minor injuries. During the drive, he feels immensely sick and when he arrives, violently vomits into a toilet. While washing himself, he notices a dark presence, which eventually reveals itself as "Id," a being attached to the Crimson Tether, which Darius can hear but not see. Id explains to Darius how the Tether's powers work, and Darius expresses reluctance to the idea of forcibly taking control of other people. Id calls him out on his lying, and later that night, Darius contemplates who he should test the power on.
During a class that Darius get bored of, Id appears and converses with Darius. He finally decides to test the power, and unleashes a thread towards his teacher. Darius orders the teacher to drop the book he was holding, which the teacher complies. After this happens, Darius releases the teacher, completely in brief shock and absolute delight over the power he now holds in his fingers. When class is out for the day, he walks out with confidence, running into John. John berates Darius, who attempts to attack him to only have Darius tell him to punch himself. Darius mocks John, and as his friends come to his defense, Gabriel intervenes and pulls Darius away from possible conflict. On the walk home, Gabriel repeatedly asks about Darius's well being, who lashes out against him and ends up walking by himself. In his room, Darius laughs to himself, thinking about the implications over his newfound power and what he could do.
After class on the next day, Darius is attacked and assaulted by John's two friends. He tries to retaliate, but is unable to find an opening to do so. As a teacher intervenes and breaks up the fight, Darius finally makes up his mind to solve his problems with John, believing he'll never find peace with him around. Later that evening, Darius writes a false suicide letter and charms his way into the DeBaptiste household, where he discovers John's poor grades and stressed mental state, which he appreciates as it falls into the narrative put into his "suicide letter." After immobilizing John's mother, Darius attempts to get John to drown himself in his bathtub. When John struggles, Darius is forced to keep him under the water, and eventually he drowns. Darius reels in horror over what he's done, and drives back to his house, conversing with Id over new information about his powers. That night, a news report mentions John's "suicide."
Darius attends John's funeral, and looks on with complete apathy. When the reception is over, Darius converses with Id, which turns out fruitless for Darius. Gabriel notices Darius and sits with him, conversing with him about John and his tragic end, which seems to overwhelm Darius. He cries, expressing remorse that he "didn't do anything to help," and is consoled by Gabriel. However, Darius misconstrues Gabriel's comfort as validation for his actions, thinking that killing John was where he truly felt like himself, which motivates him to kill John's other two friends, also staging them as suicides.
During a doctor's appointment, Darius lashes against the doctor in annoyance, which prompts scolding from his parents on the drive home. He experiences something similar to a mental breakdown, feeling as if everyone believes him to be clinically insane, which Id disregards. Darius then tells Id he plans on telling Gabriel about his power.
Id tries to persuade Darius to not tell Gabriel, but he believes he can use his charisma and charm to woo Gabriel to his side. He attends class, feeling bliss now that his bullies aren't there to pester him anymore. He meets with Gabriel after class, and the two sit at a park, conversing with each other for a while. Darius decides to come clean to Gabriel, who initially mistakes it as a love confession. However, it quickly becomes sinister as Darius reveals his new power, knowing Gabriel can see it. He is horrified by the power, and when Darius talks too much about his accomplishments, Gabriel rightly accuses Darius of killing John and the others. Darius delivers a callous monologue expressing his apathy towards his murders, and when he approaches Gabriel, he grabs a nearby broken bottle and threatens Darius. Gabriel attacks and reluctantly tries to kill Darius, prompting him to call Id for help. However, Id's power will not work, so Darius instead bites Gabriel in the neck, stunning him. He then grabs the bottle from Gabriel and stabs him repeatedly until he dies.
To dispose of Gabriel's body, Darius wraps him in his tattered sweater and drives to a convenience store to get matches. At the store, he controls an employee to give him cigarettes and matches, displaying Darius's full transformation to complete psychopathy and sociopathy. In an empty canal, Darius douses the body with gasoline and sets it ablaze, watching while condemning Gabriel for "bringing his own demise." He receives a call from his mother, and promptly returns home.
Darius returns home, caked in Gabriel's blood. His mother asks him if he's alright, to which Darius doesn't respond. Darius then admits he killed Gabriel, before instantly taking control of his mother. He orders her to tell him that she loves him, no matter what.
Descension[]
While continuing to attend his classes, Id tells Darius about a person with the Azure Eyes, an ability that not only prevents the holder from being controlled by the Crimson Tether, but also allows them to see who the Crimson Tether belongs to. He then learns that a Detective Michael holds the Eyes and is currently looking into the suicides, knowing they're the work of someone with malicious supernatural powers.
Michael realizes who the Tether belongs to when he visits Darius's school in his investigations of John's suicide, and attempts to trail Darius. However, in doing so, Darius also realizes who is attempting to bring him to justice, and concocts a plan to sadistically torment him before finally killing him. Darius intercepts Michael at a cafe, who chillingly warns him at the power he's attempting to stop, revealing he has nearly everyone under his control, showing how much his power has grown since the murder of Gabriel.
When Michael doesn't relent on his efforts to reveal Darius, he infiltrates the police headquarters and takes control of Michael's colleague Manfried, who gives him the information he needs. Shortly after, Darius kills Manfried and disposes of the body by incinerating it.
A few days after Manfried's reported disappearance, Darius then breaks into Michael's house and threatens him, holding his fiancee Nick hostage. He tells Michael that he will kill him, telling him the only reason he's still alive is that Darius wants to continue to torment him. He controls Nick to incapacitate him and ties him up, making Michael watch as Darius kills Nick in front of him. He is able to escape, framing the situation as a horrible break-in accident and controlling his parents to invent his alibi.
Michael finally decides to confront Darius at his home, enraged by the deaths of his colleagues and fiancee. He is restrained by Darius's parents, however, and Marie calls 911. As Michael struggles and Darius sadistically laughs in glee, Marie realizes what her son has become and breaks free of his control. Darius tries to get her back under the Tether's control, but it fails. He tries to grab Michael's gun to kill her, but is instead stabbed to death by his own mother. As he bleeds out, he cries out for Id, who seemingly abandons him. Darius Valleman finally dies, succumbing to the multiple stab wounds he suffered.
The Crimson Tether[]
Darius's control over the Crimson Tether allowed him to primarily manipulate the actions of people. In the beginning, he could only control two people at a time, a limitation Id says goes away as time progresses, saying the power could even allow him to take control of the entire world if he so pleased. However, there are limitations to his power. For one, Id mentions those with the Holy Names, names connected to God's angels, can see the Tether (but not Id), which is shown through Gabriel seeing it. Another limitation is that the power cannot override the human will to survive, meaning that Darius cannot simply tell someone to kill themselves, but instead must carry out the deed himself. Darius does indeed kill some people in this manner, staging their deaths with suicide notes he made his victims write before murdering them.
Quotes[]
| “ | Michael, Michael... shut up. You have no idea what you're messing with. | „ |
| ~ Darius dropping his friendly facade during his meeting with Detective Michael. |
| “ | Id: My, you really thought of everything...even drying your foot instead of immediately running from the scene. For your first time, you did pretty well. I'd go one to say that you even enjoyed it. Darius: Shut up. |
„ |
| ~ Id revealing Darius's sadism. |
| “ | Of course I did! There was nothing else I could do. John was a bully! An insignificant, stupid, and disrespectful piece of shit who leeched off my success for years! He had the audacity to assume he was at the same level as me! If I let him live, he would continue to ride of my coattails, festering like some parasitic DISEASE! I HAD TO DO IT!! | „ |
| ~ Darius's villainous breakdown. |
| “ | It really shouldn't have come to this, Gabe. It's all your fault that you're dead now... But hey... at leas you showed me that I can be my true self.' | „ |
| ~ Darius while disposing of Gabriel's dead body. |
Victims[]
- John DeBaptiste (drowned in his bathtub)
- John's two friends (one had his wrists slit open and the other was hanged)
- Gabriel Ark (Stabbed to death with a broken bottle)
- Manfried (Shot three times in the chest)
- Nick Harrow (Shot in the stomach and chest and left to bleed out)
Trivia[]
- Darius's character was largely influenced by villains like Light Yagami and Patrick Bateman. The story of Ascension also borrows a few elements from Brightburn.
- Many characters in the story have names that are near Biblical; John DeBaptiste (John the Baptist); Gabriel (Gabriel the Archangel; and Michael (an angel in the Bible). Gabriel's name is especially fitting, due to his pure nature and attempting to drive Darius to the correct path. Incidentally, his death is the turning point for Darius's transformation, driving him further to insanity.
- The chapters are marked through tarot cards; he is depicted on the Emperor card (signifying his superiority intellectually and his belief that he is superior) and the Star card (signifying his descent to madness in his ego), with Id being depicted on the Moon and Death cards, respectively.
- The cards Darius are depicted on take their meaning from the reverse readings of the typical tarot cards, hinting at Darius's darker nature.