MaJunior / ???

Hey, @MaJunior! In this thread we can discuss your character's creation!

I'm looking forward to this!

Alright. Conceptually, I was thinking an angel and a demon had a forbidden romance (loosely inspired by the friendship between the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley in Good Omens, if you're familiar with the book -- or series -- at all). A male angel fell for a female devil, and they had a child who would be sent to Yokai Academy when he was of age.

His human form is just a decent looking kid. His monster form shows signs of both heritages -- white feathered angel wings with horns and a barbed tail.

In terms of powers... I've been doing some reading, and have a few ideas.
- Arcane Magic (both angels and devils are often linked to mystical or faith driven abilities).
- Flight (via wings).
- A holy sword he can summon.
- Hellfire he can project/blast with.
- Above average speed/agility, stamina, and intelligence.

Flaws, I'm thinking Holy Weapons and Cursed Weapons in equal measure. Also, a bit of an ego and a bit of a letch.

Ok, the concept is very nice (and the array of powers too), but there's a small problem with the races you picked. That is because both angels and demons aren't monsters, they are spiritual beings, good spirits and evil spirits, respectively; They can be interacted with using magic, like being summoned or communicated with, but they wouldn't be able to produce offspring. I would presume that this book series you mentioned have a more materialistic view of these creatures, but in the setting of our game, fairies, ghosts, angels and demons (I would presume djinns too, but they don't appear in the series) are a different class of beings, they don't even dwell in this world (unless invoked by magic).

Just to clarify, the Succubus character which appears in the main series isn't actually a demon, its race just being mistakenly associated with demons by humans. Of course, your character could be a monster race with aspects that resembles both angels and demons in their popular portrayal, but actually aren't (like the succubus).

Now, about your character's appearance and powers:
- Technically, any monster can learn magic, though some are more talented than others.
- The canon races that are shown to be most talented with such "holy magic", or "dark arts", are the Yasha (which have an entry in the Monster Encyclopedia already) and the Kishin, which are a class of powerful oni (they don't have an standard appearance, the one from the series being shown as a large humanoid with horns).
- The sword wouldn't need to be related with your race, it being simply an item.
- The appearance you described could be achieved by picking any monster from folklore or fiction that has those traits, but I doubt you'll find any like that, as they're completely contradictory symbolisms, but you could adapt anything that isn't yet pre-estabilished by the lore.
- About being a hybrid, children of monsters from two different races would normally inherit the race of the more powerful parent (having a stronger blood), but some odd ones could inherit the race of the other; besides that, it would be reasonable for then to inherit some minor aspects of the 'recessive' race, in both appearance and abilities. The one exception would be chimeras, which are composed of a mismatch of different monster and animal parts.

That said, I always prefer to give players total freedom for their characters, but in this particular case, I don't think it would be thematically appropriate.

Is there something in the series itself that specifies those qualities for angels and devils/demons? Because it's a very unique take that's new to me.

But -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- didn't R+V have Oni?

Indeed, they do have Oni, actually, most of the characters are some kind of Oni (or Chinese/Buddhist equivalent), what they don't have (as a kind of monster, I. e. a material physical being, are demons in the Biblical sense, which is what I assumed you were talking about, seeing you pairing them with angels. If you want to play an Oni which looks like a common representation of a demon (again, pointing out to the succubus), there's, of course, no problem with that. The same goes for Angels (which also have monsters that are mistakenly taken to be angels by humans, like the sirens).

My comment was exclusively about then in the Biblical sense, I. e. spirits, instead of an actual monster race.

Even western angels and demons aren't generally portrayed as spirits outside of the actual Bible and a handful of movies (where them being spirits is actually a plot point). I also would posit demons are demons regardless of East or West (including succubi/incubi) but I digress. You said no, so it's back to the drawing board.

Gimme some time.

Are we going strictly manga, or anime as well?

Anime is valid too, in all parts that don't directly contradict the manga (lorewise, that wouldn't be a thing, I think, as the anime almost doesn't dwell in the lore). Again if you want to be inventive with a new monster race which don't figure in it, go for it.

Here, let me put this out there so it doesn't feel like I was trying for a "gotcha" moment or anything.

The anime had the Apsara teacher, the one who loved curry and made "curry zombies" for lack of a better term. Apsara are celestial beings, called spirits of the clouds and waters. They were later thought of as a type of fairie.

So if anime is considered canon, there is a precedent for spirits being treated as actual beings.

Just something I remembered while I was mulling over other possibilities.

Oh, no problem with that, don't worry.

I had to search for her in the wiki, because I didn't saw the second season of the anime. But again, I think I didn't made a good work of clarifying my point.

You can play a being that looked like that which you described, what I said you couldn't do, was to play as an angel or demon in the true classical sense - and when I say that, I do based on the original folkloric sources and also on classical literature, say, for example, Milton's Paradise lost or Blake's view, for example; which are what come to my mind when I think about them - but to adapt it to the setting, which deals with monsters which are basically just people with superpowers.

Now, I see that maybe what I was preoccupated by didn't even crossed your mind (considering that you had this different set of references from me). Despite that, because of said association and the setting themes, I'd think it would be quite weird for a character to appear in the academy and say (oh, I'm a generic demon/angel from Judeo-Christian imaginary); while it would be much more fitting to see the character saying that he was a Tennin (Aparently, the Japanese equivalent of the Apsara you mentioned) whose mother was a Hannya (an iconic oni).

All this to say that I didn't articulate myself very well in the first comment. You can play said character concept you have, just come up with monster races that aren't "Demon" or "Angel", which taken just like that, in those umbrella terms, point to what I first imagined when I read it. I wouldn't make sense to have a "demon" race alongside a succubus and a kishin one (as both are also "demons").

Just an addendum to the Apsara question: The way these Eastern cultures view spirits are very different from what would be common in here, for example, I saw that they are characterized by being shape-shifters and also that they have wings (the Japanese variation) which they need to fly, which means they have a body, and aren't truly spirits in the common sense of the word.

Honestly, I have to disagree with a lot of what you're saying, but at the end of the day you're the GM so it's your call. Still mulling over a second idea.