History Characters / InNomine

* BeyondRedemption: Possibly. While Archangels can fall, it's unknown if Demon Princes can ascend. Certainly none ever has, or even got close -- those Princes who became severely dissonant just became still evil lunatics rather then redemption candidates -- and it's not clear how an Archangel could patron a being of such power even if you could find one willing to risk it. It might be the case that a group of Archangels or the Seraphim Council could do the job, but it's equally possible that the Princes have made their bed barring direct divine intervention.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Subverted. He does stoke bigotry, but he has no particular objection to any group; he ultimately desires the isolation of every individual from every other individual and, while stoking racial, religious, sexual or other tensions is a good way to start fracturing society, he views this as simply a means to a larger end. "In the end, we're all a faction of one".

* OddlyCommonRarity: Canonically Lilim are by far the rarest major band of demons in the setting because they are all created individually 'fully grown' by Lilith rather than beginning as the lowly generic imps and gremlins created in countless numbers by the other Princes. However because the vast majority of In Nomine campaigns are set on Earth rather than in Hell and because most Princes use their Lilim Servitors on Earth they are just as like to be encountered as NPCs (or justified as PCs) as any other type of demon. .

* GoodIsNotNice: Perhaps the most extreme example in a Heaven full of them. Even his begrudging allies have to admit Dominic is a ''complete and utter bastard'', totally merciless in purging Heaven of any sign of Dissonance. It reaches the point that many angels are now doubting the "good" part -- many consider his ruthless punishment of every minor weakness a threat to Heaven, and a few have started theorising he's outright fallen under the black cloak.

The Seraphim are the angels closest to God's mind and cannot stand any untruth or deception, seeing them as perversions of the Symphony. Contrary to what other angels think, the Most Holy can and do understand what metaphor, figurative language and the like are (although they don't use them much) and know the difference between lies and imagination (although they don't have a lot of it themselves). Their reputation for stiff necks notwithstanding, the Seraphim are still greatly respected by their peers, and do their best to deserve the respect that they are given. In their celestial forms, Seraphim are great winged serpents with six eyes. Among the archangels, they are represented by Dominic, Litheroy, and Michael.

Second-closest angels to God, the Cherubim are protectors by nature. They can attune themselves to other beings, gaining supernatural knowledge of their well-being but gaining Dissonance if they let them come to harm; if the Seraphim are celestial nobility, the Cherubim are celestial knights. In their celestial forms, Cherubim can resemble any natural animal, but always with wings. Among the archangels, they are represented by Blandine, Christopher, Novalis, and Zadkiel.

The Ofanim are creatures of motion. They cannot stand being still for any amount of time and always come across as twitchy and restless, but are uncannily good at knowing how to get to any desired spot as fast as possible. As a rule, they're quite fond of humanity's recent propensity for inventing faster and faster vehicles. In their celestial forms, they resemble constantly-spinning wheels of fire. Among the archangels, they are represented by Gabriel and Janus.

At the midway point of the celestial ranks, halfway between the mortal and the divine, sit the Elohim. Their role in Heaven is as arbiters and mediators, and they carefully guard themselves from irrationality, bias or emotion. Their celestial forms resemble androgynous, hairless humans with large heads and dark, perceptive eyes. Among the archangels, they are represented by Jean and Khalid; before her death, Raphael was also a member of this Choir.

The Malakim were only created in the wake of the Fall from angels of other Choirs. As a result, they define themselves by their purity and honor, studiously keeping to their strict moral codes and fighting evil wherever it may lurk. They do not Fall. Not ever.\\

Among the strangest of all the angels, the Kyriotates possess no physical body of their own and cannot craft vessels like other angels can, and instead must inhabit the bodies of other living things. By default, they can inhabit humans and animals; depending on their Archangel, they can also possess plants, machines, or statues. They can possess multiple hosts at once and must move on from borrowed bodies within a week or so, always carefully leaving them better off than when they moved in, and live lives of constant change and novelty, experiencing creation from many different points of view. In their celestial forms, Kyriotates resembles roiling clouds of eyes, hands and mouths. Among the archangels, they are represented by Jordi.

Mercurians are the most mentally human of all the choirs, and the ones intended to interface the most closely with mortals. To do this, they are gifted with an uncanny ability to intuit relationship networks among mortals, and often develop a strong appreciation for trappings of human culture -- and especially for matters of fashion and taste. In their celestial form, Mercurians resemble idealized humans with feathered wings. Among the archangels, they are represented by Marc and Eli.

* GodOfEvil: Some demons worship him as a dualistic evil counterpart to God. Lucifer himself doesn't mind this (especially if it keeps his minions too scared to try anything), but he personally knows better. The books make it clear that while no one knows exactly what he can or can't do, he is limited in ways that God is not; he still has to use Essence to enact his will even if he does have a whole lot of it, he can't force souls to go to Hell, he can't inflict or remove Dissonance on angels without their consent, and he cannot change the fundamental nature of a soul (so he can't turn humans into demons or vice versa).

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Just being an asshole won't make an angel Fall (although it might get them in trouble with their bosses); there are plenty of JerkAss angels in Heaven. Falling involves deliberately going against an angel's core nature (i.e. gaining Dissonance) until it inverts and transforms the angel into a demon. A Seraphim who lies might find lies becoming all they are, a Cherubim who refuses to protect might end up resenting their duty until they turn to stalking and terrorizing their charges instead, an Ofanim who stops might never get moving again, et cetera. Becoming an AscendedDemon requires the same thing in reverse; Habbalah need to understand the truth about themselves, Shedites need to look outward for other points of view, and Impudites need to serve humanity instead of exploiting it.

* BelievingTheirOwnLies: How a Balseraph's ConsummateLiar ability works -- they trick ''themselves'' into believing what they're saying. This is also why they gain Dissonance when their lies are revealed -- the dawning realization that the world they think they see is a self-induced LotusEaterMachine causes them to lose control over the Symphony and may eventually send them into a complete VillainousBSOD when they realize they don't know what's real anymore.

* PragmaticVillainy: They, like Mercurians, suffer Dissonance when they harm a mortal. But unlike Mercurians, Impudites' Dissonance is because doing so is a waste of a good meal.

* AndIMustScream: He's spent the last millenium sealed, powerless in a tomb in the desert, unable to do anything but fantasise about revenge.
* AttackAttackAttack: His strategy for everything, which poses a problem when he breaks out in the middle of the Cold War, Hidden Celestials setting of the modern day. Even after he calms down, he's still going to spend most of his time personally going out possessing people and making them kill each other.

* OurGorgonsAreDifferent: Gorgons are children of humans and ethereal spirits -- which can include anything from animate dreams to efreet and valkyries to the surviving pagan gods -- who changed to be born as warped, terrifying monsters. In essence, they're the ethereal equivalent of the celestial-born [[{{Nephilim}} Nephallim]]. Like the Nephallim, most live in isolation, hunted by angels, demons, and humans, but they're not more inherently evil than any other mortal.
* SemiDivine: By using the Songs of Fruition, it's possible for celestial beings -- i.e., angels and demons -- and for ethereal spirits -- typically the more powerful ones, such as fey, embodied archetypes, or the pagan gods -- to have children with mortals. The fruit of these unions have greater inherent spiritual power and affinity for the supernatural than regular humans do. However, they also have a chance of being born as monsters, warped in body and mind, and shunned and feared by celestials, ethereals and humans alike. These unfortunates are known as [[{{Nephilim}} Nephallim]] when sired by celestials and [[OurGorgonsAreDifferent Gorgons]] when born of ethereals.

* OurMummiesAreDifferent: Mummies are the most perfected kind of undead that Hell can create. They're essentially immortal humans with more supernatural clout, and are functionally straight-up upgrades on the human condition with one major downside -- like all undead, their souls [[CessationOfExistence cannot survive their bodies' destruction]]. Ironically enough, the real-world Egyptian-type mummies were created to make sure their dead ''couldn't'' be turned into Hellish mummies; the process of creating an undead mummy requires the brain, and the brains of Egyptian mummies are removed during the process specifically to prevent this.

* OurGorgonsAreDifferent: Gorgons are children of humans and ethereal spirits -- which can include anything from animate dreams to efreet and valkyries to the surviving pagan gods -- who changed to be born as warped, terrifying monsters. In essence, they're the ethereal equivalent of the celestial-born [[OurNephilimAreDifferent Nephallim]]. Like the Nephallim, most live in isolation, hunted by angels, demons, and humans, but they're not more inherently evil than any other mortal.
* OurNephilimAreDifferent: When an angel or demon uses the Songs of Fruition to have children with a mortal, the issue is usually just a human with some extra supernatural power. Sometimes, however, the child is born or becomes a monster, warped in body and mind; these are referred to as Nephallim, and are shunned and hunted by both humanity and celestials. Most were born to the ancient Grigori, giant angels meant to guide humanity directly, and were hunted down when the Grigori were cast out, but some still emerge in the modern day. Despite their reputation, however, Nephallim are free-willed mortals, though it's a point of Canonical Doubt and Uncertainty whether they're capable of actually obtaining salvation.
* SemiDivine: By using the Songs of Fruition, it's possible for celestial beings -- i.e., angels and demons -- and for ethereal spirits -- typically the more powerful ones, such as fey, embodied archetypes, or the pagan gods -- to have children with mortals. The fruit of these unions have greater inherent spiritual power and affinity for the supernatural than regular humans do. However, they also have a chance of being born as monsters, warped in body and mind, and shunned and feared by celestials, ethereals and humans alike. These unfortunates are known as [[OurNephilimAreDifferent Nephallim]] when sired by celestials and [[OurGorgonsAreDifferent Gorgons]] when born of ethereals.

* RiddleForTheAges: The Dozen, a rumored cabal of undying mortal sorcerers who wield impossible powers. What's established is that sorcerers think that they exist, and that demons made up almost everything about them but have their own rumors about the Dozen actually being real. Everything else -- their powers, their identities, their goals, whether they even exist at all -- is left thoroughly obscure.

* DropTheHammer: Fitting his preferred approach to combat -- reactive and often slow, but overwhelmingly powerful once brought to bear -- David favors the use of a great two-handed warhammer.