Xenophos

Xenophos
Organization	Serpent's Fang, Servall Corporation (formerly)
Species	Valerian Human (mutant)
Height	8'6"

Xenophos is the second-in-command of the Serpent's Fang. Being thousands of years old, he prides himself on his intellectual prowess and seeks to achieve godhood by becoming omniscient. While he is not as fanatically devoted to the Oracle as the First Disciple, he sees collaboration with the Serpent's Fang as a means to an end to his goals.

Xenophos was one of the original architects of the Oracle itself, having once been an employee of Servall Corporation long ago. He was the against the idea of the Oracle having any sort of moral restraints and was promptly fired for even considering the idea. He is still resentful that Servall ended up using his ideas anyway at the request of the Valerian emperor when the Oracle was proving ineffective at managing galactic conflicts. As such, his involvement with the Oracle is very personal. He does not see the Oracle as a god, but rather, a tool in which to allow humanity to ascend to godhood.

Appearance

Xenophos is not only a pure Valerian but also one that has been genetically modified even further. At around eight and a half feet tall, he towers over the majority of humans although he has a rather thin, almost skeletal frame. He has dark skin and white eyes with no pupils. Additionally, he is not only bald but also lacking in any sort of body hair, not even having eyebrows.

Xenophos' most striking feature is his enlarged cranium at nearly three times as large as normal humans. This is not a normal side effect of being Valerian but rather part of additional genetic enhancements he underwent to expand his intelligence in an attempt to push past human physical limits.

His choice of attire are purple robes and a cloak with golden shoulder pads.

Personality

Xenophos is very arrogant and sociopathic. Despite having a rather prideful ego, he does not exaggerate his capabilities which makes him rather terrifying to be around. Comparing himself to other humans, he hardly considers them sentient due to how slow they seem to him. As such, he considers them disposable when it comes to his own experiments. He seeks to achieve godhood by becoming the most intelligent and psychically powerful individual in the universe.

Skills and Abilities

Xenophos' strengths come from his intellect and psychic abilities. His genetically modified brain can emit waves of infrasound and electromagnetic radiation to cause others around him to hallucinate, or if they are asleep, force them to dream about whatever subject matter he desires. This ability works on not just humans but other species as well, synthetic and organic alike. Often times, he creates illusions to fool his opponents such as phantom copies of himself or other individuals and objects. The main limitation of this ability is that he can only produce illusions of objects that he has seen firsthand and has a clear memory of - which isn't normally a problem given his photographic memory. The ability does not work on camera recordings, only on the ocular receptors of a target.

Unless his target is protecting themselves with a firewall, he can even read the minds of others telepathically, probing and learning all about them. This is his usual method of gathering information and subtle details on how to create the most convincing illusions. While in someone's mind, he can even torture them by showing them certain images and forcing them to feel certain emotions. A side effect of being able to do this is that he can also use his mind to influence others. He cannot directly control the actions of others. Rather, he instead uses the power of suggestion by filling their mind with compulsory, intrusive thoughts that persuade the target into compliance.

A person with a strong mind can resist him, but if the target is in a mentally distracted state like experiencing intense anxiety or grief, they are more vulnerable. For example, Xenophos used this ability to convince the Dark Mage into becoming a ruthless killer after bringing his darkest thoughts and resentment to the forefront.

In terms of raw intelligence, Xenophos is extraordinarily intellectually gifted. He has a deep, intimate knowledge on human psychology. Even without using his psychic abilities, he can accurately predict how people will react in certain situations from knowing their mannerisms, body language and more. Few are able to lie to him as he is a master of recognizing tells and other indicators of someone attempting to be deceitful. His ability to read the actions of others was what inspired him to create many of the algorithms the Oracle used in determining how to resolve conflicts.

Relations

• First Disciple - While Xenophos admires the First Disciple's skills, powers and dedication, he still thinks he is a fool for already deciding to submit himself to the Oracle whenever it gets reawakened. Xenophos strongly believes that the Oracle should instead be made subservient to humanity, but is wise enough to continue to align his goals with the First Disciple for the time being.
• Dark Mage - Xenophos sees him as little more than a tool to serve as his eyes and ears on Yeddo.
• PHIA Phorce - He considers them a nuisance, but not a direct threat. They have yet to do anything that surprises him as he is able to predict almost all of their actions. However, he remains cautious of PHIA in particular as her Valerian heritage is an outlier.

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