Conan Devlin

"Hohoh~, I guess some people were just born to be losers."

- 777

Conan Devlin(コナン・デブリン; Konan deburin), also known as the Mad fool(狂愚者; Kyōgu-sha) was one of the pawns of 777 and one of his sickest and most tragic and influential experiments regarding human control. A so-called "natural born loser", he was given the necronomicon of the dark arts of the Abyss and became a very powerful master of the dark arts that could erase all life in a realm at the time.

Being a force against Drake, he's an antagonistic force in DxD: Minus.

Appearance
Conan is described as being a man around the same height and age as Drake, however, because of the limp he has because of the overuse of the dark arts, he's apparently shorter than both him and 777. Said side-effects also includes his black hair turning a sick shade of white, pale skin and one of his eyes going strabic and blind and at least part of his body being covered in horrid deformations and scars that Drake sarcastically calls them "Improvements". After becoming an horror himself, he's described as an humanoid abomination that barely can be described by either of his opponents, saying that nothing could be more repulsive.

In order to hide his deformations and better blend-in in crowds, Conan is always using oversized robes or hooded clothes and parkas, not to mention it allows his hair to grow in order to obscure the deformations in his face.

Personality
Originally a sweet, intelligent but shy, introverted and even cowardly boy, Conan would always be victim of bullying and tease from his peers due to his poor health and poverty, however would always face them with a smile due to his father always saying him to smile in the face of the adversity in order to struggle and find true happiness. His biggest dream was to found a decent job, get married and have children in order to make his mother in heaven happy and be happy for both her and his father. He was also kind to the point of naiveness, as others would always steal or scan in order to get his lunch or money, even though he would either starve or miss important items, as he would always offer them out of charity. As a young adult, Conan wanted to become a doctor in order to help others and even had a dream of opening a free hospital for people who can't afford treatment.

However, due to his exposure to the necronomicon and deterioration of his health and sanity due to starvation and stress, Conan would become madder and less humane as his would grow old and study the book more, to the point his moral compass would become near-extinct by the time he was an adult, and even grow more and more insane as the time would go by until his mind was as deranged and distorted as his appearance, killing people on the whim and promotion destruction and chaos wherever he would pass by. By his final days in the human realm, his thirst for power and downright cruelty was so immense even Drake grew terrified of him and sought to destroy him completely.

A natural-born loser
Born somewhere in Ireland, Conan had a complicated birth since their parents could not afford a doctor for his mother, and so his father was the only witness of his first days as we as his wife's last since she would die soon after Conan was born. Conan, despite the harsh enviroument of his house and his family's poor condition, would always try to live with a smile on his face and an upbeat disposition in order to ease the weight on his father's shoulder, an honest hard-worker. Because of his shy and lonesome nature and family's poverty, Conan would always be a victim of bullying and have his lunch and money stollen from others, and physical assault and threats were not uncommon. However, Cona would not fight back, and instead tried to show kindness and love towards others, earning the respect of his professors and some reccomendations due to his hard working and overall intelligence for his young age.

However, a few days before he could reach the age of 13, his father would fall ill and eventually perish from a curable disease since the family of two could not afford the treatment, and so Conan started to live of his own, leaving school in order to beg on the streets and try to find a job for himself. In no time, Conan would turn into an empty shell of his former self, only having his memories and lost love of his family. In such vulnerable time, 777 presented himself as a "Better God than the one above", and offered Conan a large sum of money and a book Conan described as being made out of human skin that according to 777, would make all of Conan's wishes to come true if ever decodified. Having nothing else to lose, Conan accepted the deal with the devil, and used the money in order to pay for his education and overall the sources needed in order to decodify the wish-granting book, which was in fact a book of abyssal energy, the Necronomicon.

The first kil and the Master of Dark Arts
Even when being accepted in a prestigious University, Conan would still be the favorite victim for bullies and other nasty pranks from his peers not only because of his poor origins but because of his decaying health and monstruous appearance due to the use and research on the Necronomicon. Even so, Conan would always try to remain upbeat and positive in the face of his bullies, earning the respect from his teachers and being seeing as one of the brighest students as well as a promised future for himself. His position also earned the hatred from one of his classmates who was bellow him regarding academy records, and as such, marked him as a threat to her reign as the smartest students, such hatred growing so much she hired someone to go after his head. Before his assassin could end his life, Conan reached for his book and wished for the hitman to go away, and as such he summoned a horror for the first time, which smoothly killed not only his to-be killer, but the girl who hired him and all of her family, leaving nothing but guts and blood in its trace. Conan soon discovered the real nature of the so-called wish-granting book, and as such, tried to seal it away from his hands so that could never happen again.

Conan tried to destroy the necronomicon with various methods, all of them failing, also trying to get rid of it by throwing it on the river or burying, only to retrieve soon after realizing someone else could use it for evil. Seeing no other alternative but to keep it, little by little his newly discovered powers and the dark influence of the book started to twist his mind even more, and so Conan started to summon other creatures and abominations in order to smoothly but gruesomely get rid of people that either were harmful to himself, soon his area of effect growing to people he disliked, to bystanders, to people that tried to 'help' him, to even people that he believed were trying to chain him down. Soon enough, the once-brilliant boy became a madman drunk for power, the necronomicon reacting to his overall insanity as well and growing even stronger and summoning even more deranged and powerful abominations that would also pursue any witnesses, regardless of factions, and destroy them in the most gruesome ways in order keep his own madworld intact.

The Unknown Hero ends the madness
Some years after his debut as a master of the dark arts, raising an obsucure cult of abominations, sacrificies and debauchery, Conan would come to face the Unknown Hero, the champion of one entity only known as GOD and searching the the Ultimate Conclusion(完璧な結論; Kanpekina ketsuron), a perfect end and the best outcome from a single threat from several in a web of events leading to the end of 777 and the defeat of 666. Seeing Conan as a pawn of 777 and therefore a calatyst for another breach on the dimensions. Having no contact with the supernatural since them and grown arrogant of his powers, Conan underestimated the Unknown Hero, being surprised by Gospel Jester, the Unknown Hero's sacred gear and divine weapon, and almost smoothly killed by him if not by a magical portal that allowed him to escape, having his cult also swiftly vanished overnight.

After such defeat and knowing that he would eventually come to kill him, Conan entered in despair, and soon used all of his knowledge and remains of his mind and sanity in order to summon the biggest and most terrifying Horror he could come in contact with. however, instead, a portal was summoned next to him, and from it, a enormous sting of unknown origins appeared from and stabbed him on the chest, from where he started to mutate in order to become a horror himself. Reaching for the location where he could sense Conan's fainting energy, the Unknown hero found instead a monster of indescribable horror, being so foul and gruesome it haunted the unknown hero for a while after their confrotation. The beast horror would roar in pain, despair and hatred for the cursed world, and soon battle resumed between the two chosen ones, The Unknown Hero taking advantage of the stupid and slow reactions of his foe in order to make a number on him. By the end of the battle, the Unknown Hero dealt the final blow against the human-turned-horror which was struggling to even stand, and as such, so tired, the monster fell, soon dragged by another portal coming from nowhere by the same tentacle that made a monster out of him, leaving behind only the book of dark arts, which was disposed by the Unknown Hero elsewhere and recovered and then sealed away by 777. Unknown to both, Conan did not die, but was condemned to live the rest of his eternal life as a horror on the annals of the Universe known as the Dawn of Times, suffering eternal damnation in the deranged dimension of horrors and abominations, unable to leave and becoming mad with the enviroument and his own insanity.

Legacy
Despite the Necronomicon being sealed away by 777 for being deemed 'too direct' in the end of humankind, some of the teachings and runes in it live on thanks to Conan's researches and teachings, his cult leaving several instructions and even some verses of the said book which would soon be discovered thanks to their supernatural origins. Also, while the supernatural would start avoiding contact with the horrors of the Abyss, humankind instead, just like Conan, would grow interested in using such obscure and dark teachings in order to gain power and even overcome other pantheons despite their open teachings be labeled as taboo.

Powers & Abilities
Immense Intellect - Ever since he was a Kid Conan has shown signs of a genius intellect, enough to make him reach the most prestigious universities and even then be considered a honour student. However, the stamp of his intellect his further cemented by his ability to decodify and read the Necronomicon, an ancient book of unknown language and origins which is said to have no human origins, which grants magical powers to however can read its old languages.

Immense Stamina - For some reason, Conan has an immense stock of supernatural stamina since he was able to summon several and powerful horrors using the necronomicon without apparent fatigue and be able to outrun and even be able to tank some of Gospel Jester's weakest weapons if not by a magical protection around his body.

Novice Magician - A byproduct to his necronomicon studies, Conan is able to perform simple magical tricks such as teleportation and illuminating spells.

Master of Dark Arts - Conan is considered the master of the Dark Arts, an obscure, mythological, even forgotten type of teaching that instead of one's link to the nature or imagination like simple devil or conventional, it draws power from the Dawn of Times, a realm by the borders of the universe where the old ones, Ancient deities older than time itself, lies. By the cost of his sanity and physical health, Conan is one of the few humans who were able to draw continuous power from the Dawn of Times, being able to use an exclusive array of spells and summonings that differs from any kind of spell in existence otherwise, therefore impossible to predict or even go against.

As an Horror
After being sting by an Old One, Conan morphed to a horrendous humanoid horror, gaining with it all the powers of one while still mantaining a rather deranged sense of self. Such array of powers include:
 * Super Strength - The sheer size he grew into was make possible for him to smash concrete and even damage the enviroument with little to no trouble.
 * Regeneration - An absurd healing factor that could grow missing limbs in seconds, and even grow more from where it was cut from.
 * Tentacles - Conan could grow tentacles that would spit an corrosive acid that would turn anything that touches it into mush.
 * Immortality - As an horror, Conan cannot age or die in the most simple sense of the word, making him practically unkillable and immortal. However, extended healing and action would tire him to the point of exhaustion, and he would have to rest and collapse.

Necronomicon.jpgnomicon
The Necronomicon(ネクロノミコン; Nekuronomikon) is a book containing ancient information about the old ones, Ancient deities born before even time itself, and how to contact them from any realm and even draw power from them. What makes it even more puzzling than other spellbooks is that its origins and creator are unknown, as 777 simply found it as a possible vessel for spread of chaos and disorder instead of creating it, and not even he, of immense experience and knowledge about humankind or the supernatural was capable of decodifying the strange language of said book, which is said to look like it was made from human skin and be heard moaning in despair and pain.

Conan was the one chosen by 777 to decodify the words on the book and bring chaos with it. By years and years of research, Conan was finally able to decodify the words on the necronomicon and, as such, draw the power of the Old ones by the Dawn of Time and being able to summon Horrors, familiars in the shape of formless amphibious-like creatures that can regenerate from any damage and are as deadly as they are cruel. Apparently, the necronomicon has a will on its own and a foul aura, extended exposure to it making the user and anyone in close proximity gradually lose their sanity and health and deform their appearance until they are almost unrecognizable as humans, as reading from it will cause further mental and physical deterioration.

After Conan's defeat by the Unknown Hero and apparent death, the necronomicon was recovered and sealed in an unknown place by 777, deemed too 'boring and direct' on human-ending matters.

Trivia

 * Images and appearance based on Kariya Matou from the Fate series.
 * Just like any character in DxD: twice Critical and minus, Conan is named after an animal. In his case, his name has celtic origins and means "Little Hound".
 * His surname, Devlin, means "Fierce", but it also has irish and origins on the word dobhail, which ironically  means "Unlucky, unfortunate".
 * Just like the unknown Hero, Conan 'died '(cease to be human as) a virgin.
 * Part of his powers are based on Caster/Guilles de Rais from the Fate series.
 * He's the second character in Houki Minami's stories to have his powers based on a literature figure instead of mythological, only behind Dante . In his case, his powers are based on the Chuthlu Mythos.