Profile: The Avatar Of Loneliness

 PROFILE

"I'm the king of my emotions. I'm the door that will never open. Allowing anyone entrance to my heart and soul grants them the ability to harm, I refuse to be anyone's victim. Trusting others is the luxury of fools and I was taught well to avoid such pitfalls. I do not fear being alone because no matter the outcome, we will all end up alone someday." - The Avatar of Loneliness

"You’re the reason I don't trust no one (no one) and I don't love no one." - Missy Elliott, Teary Eyed

Art By Nico_Artoo

Real Name: Jude Jr. Celestin

Alias: The Avatar of Loneliness, Another Onyx, Father Isolation

Age: 96 (eternally stuck at 21)

World: Earth 22

Species: Half-human Half-spirit (formally Fully human)

Hair Color: Black

Skin Color: Sandy Brown

Eye Color: Black (Changes to blue when using his divine attacks)

Weight: Doesn't matter, but I guess 147 pounds

Height: 5'8”

Powers: Intangibility, negative energy manipulation, emotion control, life absorption, translocation, durability

Likes: Silence, iced coffee, cheesecake (particularly the ones his mother made), reading, the dark

Dislikes: People, mashed potatoes, memories

BACKSTORY 

Jude Jr. Celestin is the sole child of Gilda and Jude Sr. Celestin. Before becoming The Avatar of Loneliness, Jude Jr. was once a normal human birthed by two human parents of Earth 22. He grew up with a relatively normal childhood, despite his speech impediment and mental delay by five years. Because of his parents’ stern yet understanding approach, Jude Jr. was able to overcome his difficulties and function like any other normal child around him. He had little social contact with anyone other than his parents outside of going to school. Jude was elated whenever he was around other individuals because he enjoyed the company of others. 

One day a boy named Henry Reyes kissed Jude during recess and Jude kissed him back. A teacher saw this and notified both child’s parents. While Henry's parents were understanding and handled the matter in a calm fashion, both Gilda and Jude Sr were furious and even threatened to sue the school for negligence. Ultimately, they decided to pull their son out of school and home school him. This was when Jude's parents began instilling in him the woes of man, and that deception lay in all of their hearts. He learned that attachment to others could become dangerous over time and that he needed to realize this truth early on in life. Otherwise, he'd end up being manipulated by others and that could lead to an unsavory life. 

At first, such harsh beliefs made Jude very sad but eventually, the young boy took heed of his parents’ words. Eventually, he no longer desired any form of communication with others that wasn't a "hello", "thank you", and "goodbye". Jude became antisocial and disdainful of people. Knowing that any kindness shown to him was merely how society expected people to behave, but not an indication of their true selves. Jude even began to perceive his own parents in the same fashion, but relied on them, as every child does while still a minor. 

Many years later, being well-established in his parents’ indoctrination, Jude returned to public school at the age of sixteen. Jude did not make any friends. He simply focused on his work, projects, tests, and went about his day. Teachers were quite fond of him, calling him the "ideal student" but he felt nothing for their meaningless praise. After school, he worked at a pharmacy near his home. While a good employee and admired by customers, Jude was unfazed by their words because by that time, he viewed all mankind as liars who merely put on a charade to get their desired results out of individuals. He took  none of their words to heart, even the seemingly most sincere of them.

He continued his normal life during graduation year, and prepared to leave his family behind in New York to attend college in Wyoming. One evening while on his way home from school, since he wasn't scheduled for work that day, Jude spotted one of his male classmates named Tanner in the park talking to another male student around their age. Normally, Jude would not have cared about such things but he was bitten by the bug of curiosity, so he uncharacteristically eavesdropped on the conversation between the two young men. Tanner confessed his love to Grayson, but Grayson coldly rejected the young man and told him he was better off dead. Grayson then punched Tanner, knocking him to the ground before walking away from him. Tanner began crying profusely in the park. Jude felt pity for his fellow student, but knew to not interfere and to just go about his way. 

The next day, Jude arrived for the last day of school. Normally, he was punctual but since this was the last day of school and he'll never see this place again, Jude arrived several minutes late. He only went because staying at home would have been meaningless, and to get whatever supplies he may have left in his locker. Entering his classroom, Jude was startled to see his classmates and teacher all teary eyed. Jude then discovered the shocking news that Tanner had committed suicide. Upon hearing the tragic news, knowing what he knew, Jude felt an ocean of emotions within himself, mostly guilt. Suddenly, he fainted inside his classroom and was rushed to the hospital. Unbeknownst to anyone, including the EMT workers, Jude miraculously "died" several minutes before the ambulance arrived. During his mini "death" something unearthly happened to Jude that would forever change his course in life. 

He awakened several hours later in the hospital with both his parents at his bedside. Jude was surprised to see such worried faces worn by his birthers. Instead of feeling love and affection, the boy felt empty. They might as well have not even come. Nonetheless, Jude left the hospital in his parent’s care. After the incident, his parents began showing a softer side of themselves, but Jude already lost whatever emotional attachment he had to them. They even pleaded with Jude not to go to college in Wyoming and find something in New York because they wanted to keep their baby close. 

Jude coldly denied his parents pleas. With a full scholarship in hand, he wouldn't need any financial help from them and he was more than capable of taking care of himself. The next day, Jude packed his things and left New York for Wyoming. That would be the last time he saw his parents for more than forty years. Many years  passed. Jude got a job in accounting after graduating college with a master’s degree. Jude lived a peaceful life in Wyoming. Outside of his work duties, he did not interact with a single soul. He was well respected at his place of work and trusted by his employers. Unfortunately, his standoffish personality left him friendless, but that was fine by him since he didn't want friends anyway. Never owned a pet, never attended a party, never socialized outside of what was necessary. 

During his 20s and early 30s, Jude assumed he just had good genes, which explained why he looked so young despite being almost middle-aged. However, by his forty-fourth birthday, he realized something was off because he still looked no older than twenty, which was impossible for a normal human. The man then realized that he wasn't human as he accidentally summoned dark blue energy in the palm of his hand. While he didn't understand what he had done, Jude could only think of that day he fainted many years earlier. He noticed he felt different, but didn't quite understand at the time what had changed about him. Yet, he believed whatever happened to him on the fateful day changed his being from within. Nonetheless, Jude decided not to ponder on it and just continue to exist as he always had. 

One day he came home from work and checked the mail. Jude received an unexpected letter from his parents in New York. He had no contact with his parents since moving out many years ago. Upon reading the letter, Jude learned that they were ill and they pleaded with their son to return home and take care of them. Although Jude did not care they were sick because that was normal for folks who were near the end of their rope, the man felt obligated to at least care for his birthers until they reached their end. He resigned form the accounting job he held for many years and returned to New York to care for his parents for the remainder of their time on this earth.

After the passing of both his parents and being the sole attendee at their funerals, since neither had strong relations with any other members of their family, Jude bade his parents farewell and hoped they would find in their next life the happiness they allowed to slip by them in this life. Jude, on the other hand, felt relieved he no longer had any earthly attachments to anyone now that his only relatives were deceased. Now he could focus on understanding his less-than-normal existence since, naturally, he should have been near death's door himself. Yet, he remained as youthful as he was fifty years ago. 

Shortly afterwords, he met a mysterious woman who resembled his own mother. This woman referred to herself as "G”, an observer from another universe who revealed to Jude that he became an ethereal being called "The Avatar of Loneliness". Because of his upbringing and the day he failed to intervene in aiding Tanner, which led to the young man committing suicide, Jude had been bestowed the power of loneliness upon his temporary death when he fainted in the classroom many years earlier. He’d been transformed into part-divine spirit, which explained why he no longer aged like a regular human since he wasn't one anymore. G then bade him farewell. Before doing so, she let Jude know that he is one of many Onyx variants that exist within something called The Onyxeverse.

Once he understood his unnatural existence, Jude mastered his various abilities. However, he didn't become some typical superhero since he did not desire to be some symbol of justice. Instead, while living his "normal" day-to-day, Jude decided to use his powers to fulfill an odd passion he had when he was much younger and still had hope for humanity. Jude became a rogue detective and used his abilities to uncover unsolved murder cases. He even went as far as tracking down murderers who managed to evade the law. Unfortunately for those individuals, they won’t know that Jude was coming until it was already too late.

TRIVIA

1. The Avatar of Loneliness was inspired by one of my more severe depression episodes

2. Being another Onyx/Onyxe variant but unlike the ones I created before him (King Onyx, JJ, Candy Sin, Unloyal) The Avatar of Loneliness isn't flamboyant and has a more mature aura about him. He's also the only one that is dressed from head to toe, leaving a lot to the imagination

3. The Avatar of Loneliness's backstory is inspired by the idea of parents wanting to raise the "perfect" child, only for their methods to backfire as that child becomes too self-sufficient to ever rely on them or form any sought of relationship that isn't beneficial long-term

4. Originally, The Avatar of Loneliness was going to be born with his powers but only discover them later. However, I felt a tragic event would be a better path on how he received his powers; similar to Marvel's Spider-Man, Jude/TAOL's inability to act when it mattered most changed the course of his life forever 

5. In an earlier story that I wrote that first introduced The Avatar of Loneliness, his design was meant to be more of a count/nobleman, but I decided to make him appear more like a detective when coming up with his backstory. I even had older sketches of him dressed like a college student, but I found that too generic

6. If the story did not make it obvious The Avatar of Loneliness is a virgin 

7. While it's obvious what Jude's sexuality was going to be early on, had his parents not interfered, presently, Jude/TAOL is an asexual with zero sexual desire

8. The Avatar of Loneliness’ dislike for mankind is not in the sense of "I want them all dead" but in the sense of "I don't trust a soul". He does not want humans to just one day go extinct, but has no desire to form bonds. Annoyingly enough, there's an individual whom he named "The Avatar of Happiness" that is able to see him and communicate with him whenever they cross paths, much to his chagrin