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Originally Posted by Icelander
If and when the PCs get involved in Bloodsport 2: Electric Boogaloo: Caribbean Edition, they'll be there checking out a series of clues to nefarious goings-on, most important of which will be some agents of their Patron (one J.R. Kessler, eccentric billionaire turned funder of supernatural troubleshooters and monster hunters) having gone missing there.
The PCs and their allies will be aware that the resort in question offers a wide range of decadent thrills, though the most obviously outré is the whole fighting pits to the death thing. On the other hand, if they search, they'll find that any kind of extravagance is available to the rich tourists there, including a wide variety of sexual thrills, any drugs imaginable and all sorts of less-than-legal shenanigans.
The PCs and their allies will most likely have theories on what kind of supernatural entity might be staging these fights. What kind of supernatural legendary creature might want humans fighting each other in a no-holds-barred cage match, while an audience of rich and decadent humans bets on it? Or, more generally, be into creating an isle of depraved morality and very expensive thrills?
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Since no one's addressed this one...
The Incarnate Champion is looking for a new avatar, and these fights are the audition process. Sure, fighters might initially be lured in by the idea of money or been abducted, but after their first fight they receive a vision, or a dream, or an unshakeable feeling: They must fight to the finish, no matter what the cost. They must become... the Champion.
It started out small, but as the fights have continued, the Champion's influence has spread. The passions of combat have attracted minor spirits that feed on and encourage extreme emotions, so the attendees (and even the staff) are roused to higher and higher pitches of excitement. It's becoming something of an addiction problem for them... The surrounding area is also seeing a rise in violence, as brawls and fights escalate more often and more quickly, and heightened passions give more reasons for conflict. (Not so much in predatory violence, property damage, or theft, which ought to stand out to canny investigators.) The Champion's visions are starting to spread beyond the resort, too. Fighters are beginning to arrive on the island, drawn by some urge they can't put their finger on...
The fight organizers are unaware of the Incarnate Champion's influence, or that of the other spirits. They just know that their little blood sport and sex trafficking operation has become extremely successful, and they're riding the high. They don't even have to kidnap fighters anymore, and the punters keep laying bigger bets and going for more exotic (and expensive) debauchery. The more sensitive among them might be getting a bit nervous, but feel they're riding the tiger.
Basically, if you're familiar with Warhammer lore, imagine if Khorne and Slaanesh threw a house party. That's what's developing here. If it matures, it's going to be really unpleasant.
This gives you a couple red herrings, or onion layers, to throw at the PCs. After being drawn in to investigate missing comrades, they find a typical den of vice, and while the blood sport appears to be central, most of the interesting stuff to occult investigators appears to be on the periphery, where they more easily detect the spirits. The Incarnate Champion's influence works on them, too, so you can play up intra-party quarreling, hot tempers, impulsiveness, etc. The second act reveal, of course, is when they're watching a deathmatch and realize one of the fighters is an agent, and appears to be willing.
Unfortunately I can't point you to any actual mythological figures that might fit off the top of my head. Personally, I'm fond of the idea of modern spirits of some sort getting in on the act, but YMMV.