How do they look?

[Methariel]

Hello everybody,

there's a problem I'm sometimes thinking of without getting a proper solution: How do some of the Superiors look in their Celestial forms?
Nybbas is, if I'm not mistaken, described as looking exactly like the Vessel he uses, except that leathery wings and a black halo is added. I think the same holds true for Andrealphus. Yves and Kronos appear as old men, regardless which plane they're on. Haagenti is a small furry thing with many teeth. And of Gabriel it's said that she likes to "hug" Soldekai with her fiery "arms", so I presume she looks like an unnaturally bright, lively, big flaming Wheel. But what about the others?
What does Michael look like? Is he just a giant winged snake that radiates struggle and War? What's Asmodeus' appearance? What would Blandine see if she looked into a Celestial mirror? And what could be seen by Kobal or Janus?
I don't think there's a canon answer, but I'd like to have your opinions on this topic. I had to describe one or two Superiors in Celestial form - and I'd like to know if others had the same problems I encountered.

Methariel

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Methariel

How do some of the Superiors look in their Celestial forms?

They're Superiors; they can look however they want. I'm not going to be the one to tell Baal that the candyfloss-pink sundress isn't really him. :P

[tylrlsaa]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

They're Superiors; they can look however they want. I'm not going to be the one to tell Baal that the candyfloss-pink sundress isn't really him. :P

Indeed.

"Uh, nice dress Boss. The bazooka's a nice touch, too."

When I was actively running a game, I had the Superiors appear as they did in the book, Celestial form and physical vessel.

[Isawa Brian]

Given the wide range of Superior capabilities, I've had to come up with a number of different scenarios for Superior appearance.

First, there's the 'In General' form. This is the form that the Superior in question shows up most often. Generally, I use the superior as described, either by the artwork or by whatever text is available. Since a good deal of these tend to be... unusual... the 'In General' form has a back-up...

"Preferred Vessel"-- what the superior shows up in on the material when being a giant naked nordic man, or a golden being of light won't work. In this case, I try to get as close to the In General version as possible. Sometimes, it isn't possible, in which case I've made things up based on the personalities I see and intend to implement for my campaign.

And then there's when a Superior wants to look like something else entirely. When Novalis wants to show up as someone's jovial uncle, or Marc has decided it would best put the negotiators he's working with at ease to be a balding older man with a gentle smile, and so on. Directly, as masters of various songs and SuperiorPowers, I've decided that Superiors CAN look like anything... but consciously or unconsciously have certain themes that show up.

For example, if Michael wanted to show up as an 11 year old japanese schoolgirl, unless he was taking care to suppress his symbolic/War nature, that little girl would have hawklike eyes that could convince the most dedicated tentacle monster it was time to relocate to the next country, or perhaps the next hemisphere. Similarly, when Nybbas decides to show up as something other than Media Executive Man! (tm), he usually shows up "in character" or in type- as a burly action hero macho man, or the Stern Businesswoman who abruptly Turns Beautiful when she takes off her glasses and lets her hair free (off topic, does anyone else think that said women tend to look better with the glasses /on/?), and so on.

Some Superiors are better at it than others-- Asmodeus and Michael, for different reasons, tend to be very good at concealing but always leaving some aspect of themselves to be found, if looked at the right way. Marc, who swims among humans as the mega-Mercurian he is, can _always_ find the proper vessel for the occasion- and takes on the mannerisms and speech patterns accordingly. On the flip side, Saminga isn't really good at disguising his essential nature; most of the time, he doesn't even really bother. Gabriel, most of the time, won't bother as well. Or maybe she really, truly is trying to fit in- but with what she sees in her head, and Sees with her soul, and things just tend to get all... broken... on the outside.

[Glamourweaver]

I agree that they can look however they want, though I would also say that they have "true" forms of sorts, if for no other reason than most of them weren't ALWAYS Superiors.

Blandine: For some reason, possibly because of her facial structure of her picture in Superiors 3, I picture her Cherub form being equine. Possibly a slender silver horse with the build & wings of a swan. Ofcourse her eyes still swim a mysterious blue-green.

Christopher: the eternal protector of Children, Chris' Cherub form is that of a great American Black Bear, though it is known at times in his more tender moments to appear almost toylike: the Archetypical Teddy Bear.

David: When he was a Cherub, I imagine his Celestial form being that of a black lion. Now that he's a Malakite, his "body" would be humanoid (& extremely muscular), probably appearing as though made of black stone with obsidian wings. As an eternal mark of his Cherub past though, I picture him still having the head of a black stone lion

Dominic: I honestly can't think of anything better than the picture in Superiors 1. The ominous cloak with 6 red serpent eyes gazing out from beneath the hood

Eli: an African man with long long hair. His eyes, wings, & halo are constantly shifting between different sparkeling colours.

Gabriel: a spiral of 7 rings of golden flame within which a female form burns as scarlet. Only her black eyes appear not to be made of flame

Janus: One massive wheel of spinning air within which blue flames dance. Its size & speed make this single wheel a constant literal hurricane

Jean: Androgynous Elohite of extremely slender build (think one of the alien "Greys") He is a luminecent blue of crackeling energy that moves through him in the visible pattern of circuitry.

Jordi: I imagine a white mist within which float the gazing eyes of every species of animal to ever exist

Khalid: a graceful elohite wrapped in what appears to be cloth & silks of Middle Eastern fashion. these enshroud his entire "body" save for his face which is always blocked from view by the luminescent geometric pattern of his halo, just like holy figures in Islamic art.

Laurence: a dark haired European figure whose face is shadowed by his untammed hair. He wears a shining silver Crusades-era suit of armor over the rest of his body, save that its strangely more slender & form fitting without being thinner or weaker in appearance. On the front of his suit, a Cross is formed by the image the archetypical Sword carved into the suit. Ofcourse he is donned by a pair of perfectly groomed black feather wings.

Litheroy: Like Dominic he is donned by robes, but these do not hide his Seraph form & features. From the back of his monk's garb 3 pairs of white-feathered wings emerge. His 6 eyes are a piercing blue & are round jeweles, not snake like.

Marc: it might just be because of the picture in the Corebook, but I always picture Marc's Celestial Form body actually appearing as though made of gold. His features in my mind are a mixture of European & East Asian. His wings are completely white & slender, but still very expansive & strong give the impression of exteme speed. He wears a pony tail, though over the last decade he's begun to consider cutting it off...

Michael: Michael rarely if ever dons his "true" Seraph form. When he does it is a sight to behold. It is said that Michael was the second most beautiful of all the Seraphim, he having been the prototype that cluminated in Lucifer's beauty. Now though his beauty is tarnished by blood & the scars of battle. His Celestial form appears as a truly MASSIVE Seraph completely clad in radiant golden armor instead of scales; that armor though is stained with tried blood & bent & broken at places corresponding to where he continues to wear scars in his humanoid form. His 12 wings are similarly armored, yet still capable of flight of course.

Novalis: No animal is as close to flowers as the insects who polinate them. As such Novalis' Cherub form is that of a butterfly whose expansive beautiful wings bear what appears to be an floral pattern painted by one of the great French Impressionists

Yves: Yves always looks like George Burns

Zadkiel: Imagine the female golden sphinx looking figures usually pictured sitting atop the Arch of the Covenant to protect it (usually said in fact to be Cherubim). Yeah, thats how she looks

I'll do the Demon Princes later...

[Glamourweaver]

I'll do the Demon Princes too, but only if anyone's interested. If anyone enjoyed my summaries of the "true" Choir forms of the Archangels enough to want my similar write-ups for the Demon Princes, just say so :)

[zorg]

I'm interested and waiting eagerly! :)

[Doc]

Always interested.

Oh and Isawa, yeah they usually do look better with the glasses on.

[Archangel Beth]

As noted when it comes up on the list, my favorite "Novalis' Cherubic Form" is a giant ladybug with angelic wings under the carapace. (They eat aphids!)

Blandine typically shows up, in my stuff, as a snow leopard with peacock wings. I think I got this from someone else, at least partly.

Jean either manifests in human form (Superiors can do that...) about as the core rules describe his default form, or Elohite form. Typically in a lab-coat (pockets!), and with storm-gray eyes.

For some reason, my Lilith defaults to short, dark-haired, and with medium-brown skin. And supernaturally enthralling, of course. But hey, she changes vessels as desired.

[Glamourweaver]

Alaemon: ... i don't have my copy of Superiors 4 with me & I'm drawing a complete blank on the image of Alaemon within; so I can't comment on how accurate it is in my head. If anyone could jog my memory with a description that would be great :) (for now lets go with Alaemon's "true" Impudite form being "a Secret")

Andrealphus: perfect hermaphroditic beauty incarnated in the form of an Impudite.... if any of you have read Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series, think of Desire of the Endless, only with horns, an extremely sexual demon tail & long straight black hair. I imagine his/her wings being luxurous & silky, green on the outside & black within; (s)he wraps the wings around him/herself so they appear as his/her cloak.

Asmodeus: the "true" Djinn form of the Prince of the Game is that of a massive twisted bronze & black spider weaving webs of iron chains

Baal: like Michael's Seraph form, the Balseraph form of the Prince of the War is covered completely by armor instead of scales. His armor is a warped mockery of samuraii armor, completely crimson and covered with rusted spikes. Two verticle slits run down the side of his "helmeted" serpent face, only blackness lies beneath, invisible eyes gazing from beneath the shadows of his "armor".

Beleth: trap Edgar Allen Poe inside H.P. Lovecraft's brain for 24 hours, then let him dream of a Raven & let Edvarch Munch paint it while on a really bad acid trip. That nightmare raven is approaching Beleth's "true" Djinn form.

Belial: a twisted semi-draconic Calabite with emaciated humanoid build & utterly inhuman horned head (shaped not unlike that of the Balrog from the first Lord of the Ring movie). His skin is burned to a crisp & constantly aflame. His "hands" are twisted into claws & burned virtually to the bone. The same is true for almost the rest of his body, warped emaciated & burned into boney claw-like shapes.

Fleurity: I imagine Fleurity's "true" Habbalite form appearing almost exactly like the human form shown in Superiors 4 save that syrninges are evenly spaced over his form with the needles placed to his skin. The important thing to note is that the syringes are full, he never takes drugs himself but they're still there always available to him with the slightest pressure to the syringe plungers; his own eternal temptation which he is strong enough to resist.

Furfur: Ever see the movie "Legends" with Tom Cruise? The giant red brute with massive horns is pretty much how I imagine the Calabite Prince of Hardcore; just add a studded leather jacket & leather pants & boots.

Haagenti: the bloated hairy Calabite whose form is dominated by his gapping maw is accurately represented in the Corebook & Superiors 2.

Kobal: I can't possibly improve on the pic in Superiors 2.

Kronos: Picture Patrick Stuart in a black buisness suit. Add, sharp Hannibal Lector-like teeth, pointed finger nails, & thick grey eye-brows coming to whispy points on the outer ends.

Lilith: Lilith's true human form is distinctly Middle Eastern, but very pale for her ethnicity. She tends to wear her black hair long over one side of her face. Her eyes are a piercing black & enhanced by the black ceremonial paint she wears on her naked form in the shapes of mystic runes & patterns (she can & does usually appear in clothes without the paint, but this is her original form from when she became a Princess). Her build is lithe & only slightly shorter than average today (she tends to enhance her hight when she manifests though... she used to be "tall" you understand).

Magog: the pic in Final Trumpet is about right for this Shedite

Malphas: this Shedite manifests in the shattering of space itself. It appears as though visible space is cracking like a mirror. Walking in the center of this effect is the image of a dignified elderly man (as pictured in the IN books). Ofcourse just as with a broken mirror different parts of him are seen at different angles & distances of enhancement. As he moves these shift depending on which fragment one is looking at/through. His race is either determined by his will to fit with who he's talking too, or if he doesn't care its different through different fragments

Mammon: a sickley green Balseraph of bloated proprotions. The Prince of Greed is easily the fattest of the Superiors (Haagenti's massive form is actually quite muscular & powerful, he's a hungry ferocious beast, not a obesse fat-cat like Mammon). His serpent face is so bloated with its rolls of chins & jowels that its hardly recognizeable at that of a Balseraph (it looks pretty much like the one pictured in Heaven & Hell and Superiors 4), save for his six serpent eyes which are small & beedy in 2 diagnoal rows of 3 under this saging forhead.

Nybbas: The "true" Impudite form of the Prince of Media is pretty much exactly as pictured in Superiors 2. Its his favored vessel (a weazely little caucasion red-headed media executive in a tackey blue suit) with small horns, bat wings, & a tail. Ofcourse his most striking feature is his eyes which are always covered by his glasses, flickering television static upon the lenses.

Saminga: take the most grotesque rotting image of a corpse you can picture, make it particularly green & amorphus, different features & skins shifting constantly over warped mutating bones. From the waist down though this Shedite spreads outwards in the form of rotting green tentacles that decay endlessly as they move.

Valefor: Pic is Superiors 4 fits this Calabite fine: a broad sholdered vagabond with a pointed goutee & long slightly curved horns jutting upwards.

Vapula: the pic is Superiors 4 can easily be his "true" Habbalite form. A Habbalite sewn together from different toned greenish skin patches, probably with circuitrly and wires sticking out & throwing off sparks at points.

I'll do the dead & MIA Superiors later.