Keeper of Terror
is a Diablo/RWBY crossover written by Bear of Cali.
Following the events of Reaper of Souls, Tyrael decides that the best way to truly get rid of the Seven Evils is to banish the Black Soulstone to another reality altogether. With the help of the Nephalem and the Horadrim, this task is accomplished, but the Soulstone breaks apart as it crash-lands onto the world of Remnant, with one of the Seven Evils being imprisoned in each one of the scattered shards. Their souls twisted and weakened by the trip, the Seven Evils are forced to wait inside their tiny prisons as the years go by.
And then Diablo's shard is discovered by a young Ruby Rose...
This fanfiction contains examples of:
- Abusive Parent: Diablo towards Leah, to put it mildly. This revelation solidifies Ruby's decision to be the Anti Anti Christ.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: All the Great Evils are one. Diablo is Fear. Mephisto is Hatred. So on.
- Apocalypse Maiden: Ruby Rose
- Bad Powers, Good People: Ruby is Diablo's host, yet fights tooth and nail to keep him from possessing her, and whenever she is forced to tap into his powers, she restrains herself a lot.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Andariel subjects the owner of a bookstore to this For the Evulz.
- Consummate Liar: Mephisto and Belial.
- Cool Old Guy: Mephisto assumes the form of a kindly old man and utilizes this trope to get his host - Jaune - to trust him.
- The Corrupter: Mephisto acts as this towards his host, Jaune.
- At one point, Diablo tries to tempt Ruby into giving in with a promise of power. It doesn't work. And even then Diablo is this without even trying (he himself states this) when Ruby is starting to have demonic features (growing scales, wings, and a tail) and a darker mental personality.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Ruby dresses in black and red, Fight with a Sinister Scythe and the host of the strongest Prime Evil, yet she's a selfless heroine.
- Demonic Possession: All of the hosts suffer from this.
- Enemy Mine: Diablo agrees to help Ruby get rid of his brothers because he sees them as a threat to his plans.
- Evil Laugh: Diablo has quite the chilling one.
- Evil Redhead: Andariel.
- Faux Affably Evil: Mephisto pretends to be a Cool Old Guy towards Jaune, but it's all an act and he fully intends to betray his host at the worst possible moment just to make the betrayal all the more painful.
- Foreshadowing: When Ruby first met Jaune, he wasn't afraid of her, who has a Primal Fear aura due to being Diablo's host, despite the lack of hunter experience. It is later revealed that Jaune is Mephisto's host.
- Heroic Host: Ruby.
- Heroic Willpower: One of the factors keeping Diablo from fulling possessing Ruby. But he's chipping away at it, and Ruby knows that willpower alone won't be enough in the long run and due to her own Superpowered Evil Side, it goes by faster than she expected.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Anyone who trusts one of the Seven Evils is in for a nasty surprise. Just ask Jaune, Mephisto's host.
- Joker Immunity: Averted. Since there's no High Heavens or Burning Hells in the world of Remnant, any demon or angel who dies there will be Killed Off for Real with no hope of being resurrected. Because of this, the Seven Evils must keep their hosts alive at any cost, even if they hate them.
- Kick the Dog: Diablo briefly takes control of Ruby's body in order to fight Imperius. After that is finished, he sadistically reveals his identity to Ruby's friends and what he intends to do to her before being pulled back into her mind.
- Knight Templar: Imperius, as usual.
- Manipulative Bastard: Mephisto is stringing his host along by pretending to be a wise, grandfatherly mentor to him, his ultimate plan being to help Jaune reach his fullest potential and become a great hero... at which point Mephisto will promptly assume control just to make his betrayal all the more emotionally damaging.
- Zig-zagged with Diablo. His plans for Ruby are insidious, as one might expect, but he's Brutally Honest about it and only tries to tempt her once.
- Mighty Roar: Ruby unleashes one at the end of Chapter 4, scaring off a pack of Grimm in the process - and awakening Diablo.
- No-Sell: Anyone who pulls this off against Ruby's fear aura is either a very powerful human or the host of one of the other Great Evils.
- The Power of Hate: Mephisto's domain. He encourages his host, Jaune, to tap into this as well.Mephisto: "Use your hatred, boy!
- Power Incontinence: Ruby, like Leah before her, suffers from this to some extent. She's much better at using Diablo's powers then Leah was, having more practice, but mentions that she used to actually light things on fire by just touching them for a while and she has zero control over the aura of fear she emits.
- Primal Fear: Diablo's powers are based on this. It's most basic manifestation is an aura of terror, but it also comes in the flavors of fire and lightning for a more direct offense.
- Resurrective Immortality: Averted. See Joker Immunity.
- Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: The Seven Evils.
- Secret Identity: Ozpin is Deckard Cain.
- Shock and Awe: Jaune, being Mephisto's host, has electrokinetic powers.
- Sinister Scythe: Ruby's weapon of choice, with a built-in gun, to boot.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Whenever Diablo assumes control of Ruby's body, this trope applies...sort of. She herself develops one as Diablo's host yet she is in denial over its overall influence.
- Villain Has a Point: Diablo urges Ruby to kill Jaune after discovering that he is Mephisto's host, since he could be a deadly threat to both of them should Mephisto take over Jaune's body completely. His motive is anything but altruistic, but he's right about Mephisto, especially since his brother has deceived Jaune into thinking he is a Cool Old Guy.
- Villains Never Lie: Diablo makes no attempts to hide his plans for Ruby, and whenever she asks important questions, he tells her what's going on.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 16. It just might be possible for the Burning Hells to appear in Remnant when the Tristram Cathedral is discovered. This discovery also shocked Diablo.
- Chapter 17 expands more about this. Remnant is Sanctuary thousands of years after the events of Diablo III. Tyrael threw the Black Soulstone thinking it was heading to another dimension but in reality, sent it thousands of years in advance and he also caused the Moon's destruction. Still no Joker Immunity though.
