History Characters / Lazarus

** According to the sourcebook, Hock is the only faction in the world to reject Carlyle's neo-feudal model, and instead his territory is run as the closest thing to a modern nation state in the world of ''Lazarus''. It's an absolutely horrific nation-state, considering that non-citizens effectively have no human rights whatsoever, brainwashing of the public through propaganda and drugs is an unquestioned everyday fact of life, the head of state has experimented with biological superweapons that caused enormous loss of life among his own people, and political enemies or anyone who outlives their usefulness can be turned into mindless drugged zombies forced into manual labor. All that said, the overwhelming majority of inhabitants of Hock territory are citizens with full and equal rights under the law, when in all other regions of the Earth the majority of humanity are Waste, with their station varying from being a few steps above slaves to actually being flat out slaves of that territory's Family. Furthermore, it's worth noting that Hock territory is run according to a written charter with guaranteed rights for citizens, including full healthcare and education, while in other territories the law of the land is essentially the whims and dictates of the ruling Family and their subordinates. Sister Bernard's interaction with Michael Barrett on the way to The Lift where she was very surprised to see that Michael can read despite being born to a Waste family speaks volumes about the state of education in Carlyle lands if you're not serf class or higher, and similarly the fact that Michael wasn't able to get glasses with the correct prescription until the Lift testing says similar thing about basic medical access. Hock's propaganda may contain all sorts of outrageous lies, but it's not wrong about the fact that, at least in certain ways, the quality of life for the average person in most other areas is lower.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:It's revealed in ''Risen'' #7 that he didn't just dump his girlfriend (and Jakob's sister) Leah after getting involved with Abigail. ''He murdered her'' and made it ''look'' like suicide.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: As a young man Jakob Hock was utterly devoted to his older sister Leah, nearly to the point of co-dependence. Her suicide at a young age [[DespairEventHorizon nearly broke him]].

* TragicVillain: Hock’s choices were his own. His hatred for Malcolm Carlyle lead him to become Malcolm’s anthesis. A man who was ruthless, brutal, and built a system of [[DrugsAreGood chemical dependence]] and [[{{Cult}} cult like worship to counter Malcolm’s feudalism.]] Hock actions have no excuse, and knowingly became a monster to avenge his sister’s suicide. The tragic part was not only him becoming a despot in order to fight the man who hurt his sweet sister. [[spoiler: But in the end it was all part of Malcolm’s plan. Hock thought he was avenging his sister suicide. Not knowing that that Malcolm [[NeverSuicide staged the suicide]] and [[MagnificentBastard leaked his affair with Abigail so that Hock would become his counterbalance in the new world.]] Hock thought his choices where his own, not knowing he was always part of someone else’s plan.]]

* TheChessmaster: He is always looking several moves ahead, and can perceive angles and the intentions of his opponents in ways nobody else can match.

** He is a master of reading events and be prepared for any circumstance. He can foresee all too well the actions of both Hock and Bittner at the Conclave, but [[spoiler:Hock manages to surprise him with the poison tailored specifically to Malcolm. Malcolm knew Hock would try to steal the secrets of the Carlyle's longevity treatments, knew how Hock would dangle the possibility of it to try to lure other Families to Hock's side, etc. Malcolm ''didn't'' realize Hock would also use the information to craft a PerfectPoison to kill Malcolm and grab a crucial early advantage in the their conflict if Hock lost the inevitable {{CombatByChampion}} .

* ManipulativeBastard: The comic "Risen" #7 laid bare his manipulations. [[spoiler:Knowing in the future he would need an enemy to gather allies around. Someone lacking his ability but enough resources to throw his [[CannonFodder "allies"]] at until they are weakened enough to be absorbed by House Carlyle. He intentionally allowed his wife Abigail to discover that he was cheating on Leah while with her. Knowing her guilt would drive her to confess this to Jakob Hock, both Abigail and Jakob believing the affair [[NeverSuicide lead to Leah’s "suicide".]] Malcolm knew that Jakob would become enraged by the betrayal and would become Malcolm’s anthesis, the perfect enemy that Malcolm would use to shape the new world. It was a plan that took [[LongGame decades to come into fruition with the following]] [[CivilWar Conclave War.]] When Hock realized what Malcom had done, he is both impressed by its brilliance and bitter at how he fell for it.]]

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Make no mistake, Malcolm Carlyle runs a ruthless and repressive regime. He will undertake underhanded and immoral schemes in a second to maintain his power, and crossing him or the rules he sets out for his realm is almost certain to prove a very costly or fatal mistake. And while he seems willing to do and provide more for the average person living under his rule than most families, by modern real world standards it's still a very strict life lacking many basic freedoms. When you put him against someone who literally drugs his people into being mindless obedient slaves, however, there's no doubt that Carlyle is the preferred choice [[spoiler: It is later revealed the reason the system exists, where million starve and suffer. Is due to his plan to "save the world" his way. In the end , ironically Hock is[[ALighterShadeOfBlack reveled to be the lesser evil of the two.]] ]]
* ManipulativeBastard: The comic “Risen”#7 [[spoiler: laid bare his manipulations. Knowing in the future he would need an enemy to gather allies around. Someone lacking his ability but enough resources to throw his [[CannonFodder “allies “at until they are weakened enough]] to be absorbed by House Carlyle. He intentionally allowed his wife Abigail to discover that he was cheating on Leah while with her. Knowing her guilt would drive her to confess this to Jakob Hock, both Abigail and Jakob believing the affair [[NeverSuicide lead to Leah’s “suicide.’]] Malcolm knew that Jakob would become enraged by the betrayal and would become Malcolm’s anthesis. The perfect enemy that Malcolm would use to shape the new world. A plan that took [[LongGame decades to come into fruition with the following]] [[CivilWar Conclave War.]] When Hock realized what Malcom had done, he is both impressed by its brilliance and bitter at how he fell for it.]]

* [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal: Is accidentally shot by James and seemingly dies in ''Risen'' #7.]]