Reverend Jesse Custer

RP Name:
K-Lee


Person used as character face:
Guy Pearce

Character Name:
Jesse Custer

Alias:
None

Power:
When his soul merged with the angel-demon entity Genesis, her powers were focused into what Jesse Custer would refer to as "The Word of God." When he uses the Word, his eyes turn red and his voice changes that sounds like "nails scraping against [your] soul." Although no one can resist his commands, his victims must be able to understand them.

Second Generation Anti-Hero or Vigilante? If so, how did you end up picking up the mantle?:
Not a second generation.


Costume:
No costume, Jesse just works in whatever he is in.

How long have they been an anti-hero or vigilante?:
Jesse has had his power for a year now.

Character Bio: Jesse is the son of John Custer, a U.S. Marine, and Christina L'Angelle, a troubled runaway. The couple met when Christina, encouraged by the Vietnam War-protesting group she was traveling with, spat in the eye of the first soldier she saw returning from overseas. Despite the assault, the two recognized a sense of displacement in each other, and a relationship formed. Quickly, John and Christina fell deeply in love and gave birth to a son, Jesse. During Jesse's early years, his father instilled a love of cowboys in him, and taught the boy to protect women, never tolerate fools, and "to be a good guy, 'cause there's way too many of the bad." Their happiness was short-lived, however, as Christina's family finally caught up with them with the intention of bringing her home. Psychotic thugs Jody and T.C. were prepared to murder John until they realized he was the father of Christina's son and were obliged to take him along. Jesse was taken back to the family home and introduced to his malicious, intelligent, yet decrepit Grandma, who began to teach him to both love and fear God. John and Christina were married, although John secretly vowed to escape with his family after a suitably safe period of time had passed. Sadly, they were caught during the escape attempt, and Jody killed John in front of young Jesse's eyes. After further torment from Jody, Jesse vowed never to cry again. After that, Jesse and a normal childhood were "ships that passed in the night," with the only nods being his loving mother, a pet dog, and his best friend Billy-Bob, a one-eyed, inbred swamp-dweller. Gradually, however, his family managed to cruelly take these from him, too. Jesse was educated largely by his mother, while the sadistic Jody taught him mechanics, fighting, and shooting. He was frequently punished by being placed in an airtight coffin and then submerged at the bottom of a river. Jesse's sanity was held intact by the company of a spirit taking the form of cowboy legend John Wayne. Whether this spirit is a genuine manifestation of the Western hero, or if it is simply a coping mechanism spawned from his movie-watching history with his father is uncertain. In either case, there's no question that Wayne held him together. By his late teens, the death of his parents and his best friend Billy-Bob gave Jesse the necessary drive to escape the L'Angelle family and run away. Eventually, he ran into a woman who would change his life forever: Tulip O'Hare. The two fell in love and, along with Tulip's friend Amy, pursued a life of crime, stealing expensive cars and never getting caught. The three soon became indebted to a criminal who also stole horses to sell on the meat market. With the help of a former Texas Ranger, Jesse and Tulip freed the horses and defeated the thieves, and Jesse hanged the French meat-dealer for horse-rustling and murdering the ranger, whom Jesse had grown to like and respect. Jesse and Tulip enjoyed a high life of crime and sex on the highways — Jesse planned on proposing to Tulip but the sudden reappearance of Jody and T.C. prevented that. Threatening to kill Tulip if he ever spoke to her again, Jesse simply 'disappeared' from her life and was pressed into the clergy by his Grandma. Finally admitting defeat and turning to alcohol, he began practicing as reverend to an ungrateful and ignorant Texas town. Soon enough, the John Wayne spirit that had appeared to Jesse now refused to talk to him, condemning him as a "faggot." Jesse's desire to point out the hypocrisy of his congregations' lives was finally resolved when he chanced to encounter the comedian Bill Hicks (in either Dallas or Houston, as Jesse was a trifle too drunk to remember properly). Watching the performance of Hicks' cynical, caustic yet utterly truthful wit inspired Jesse to live to a higher standard; when he heard of Hicks' death, he decided to confront his congregation in the local bar, where he pointed out the residents' dirty little secrets. Eventually, Jesse was cut short when he accused a drunk of having raped a hitchhiker. The rapist, whose father had paid off the judge, beat Jesse unconscious with a pool cue. During a sermon the day after he was attacked in the bar, Jesse was suddenly struck by a supernatural force later identified as Genesis, grafting itself to Jesse's soul and releasing an explosion of energy that destroyed the church and the town, killing the whole population. By a well-timed coincidence, Tulip had hitched a lift with an Irishman named Cassidy after having just bungled her first job as an assassin. The two discovered Jesse among the rubble of the church and, after some discussion, agreed to help him to safety, although Tulip was still furious with Jesse over his sudden abandonment of her five years before. The death of the townsfolk and the rumored appearance of a stone-faced, dual-pistol wielding cowboy brought the involvement of both local law enforcement and the FBI.

Through subsequent bloodshed and black humor, the following is revealed:
Merging with Genesis has given Jesse "the Word of God," a power which forces the listener to obediently follow his commands, so long as the listener can hear and comprehend what is said. This power is signified by Jesse's eyes glowing an eerie red.
The highly charismatic Cassidy, while appearing to be human, is actually a vampire well into his 90s.
The mysterious cowboy is the unstoppable Saint of Killers, sent on a mission from Heaven to find Jesse and subsequently Genesis.
Genesis is the result of a sexual union between an angel and a demon, something not defined by good or evil, and perhaps more powerful than God Himself. It escaped its confinement in Heaven and fled to Earth, finding Jesse.
When Genesis was born, God left Heaven, and no one knows where He went or why.

Much of this information was forced from an angel using Jesse's newfound power. Jesse also made a new friend in Cassidy after initially calling him an abomination for drinking blood. Unfortunately, Jesse also discovered he was being followed by the Saint of Killers, who was sent to hunt down the mortal who had merged with Genesis.Following these revelations, Jesse decided to use his power to track God down and make Him face up to His own wrongdoings as Creator.Jesse's quest for God would take on the form of an unconventional road trip.