Priest

Origin

Ivan was an orphan who was adopted by Jacob Isaacs, a wealthy rancher in the Old West. He was adopted in an attempt to get Jacob’s daughter, Gena, to open up after the death of her mother.

Initially, Gena disliked Ivan, resenting his presence, since she wanted a little sister. She would cause trouble and then place the blame on him, and generally pick on him. However, Ivan still wanted her to like him, so he brought her a piece of pie and asked what it was liked to be held by a mother. The question awoke memories of her mother and softened her disposition towards Ivan.

As the year went by, Ivan began studying ancient cultures and languages, even toying around with things like voodoo dolls. The relation ship between him and Gena grew as well, developing into something more than love between a brother and sister. Unfortunately, their father, Jacob, noticed their growing affections and sent Ivan to seminary school to become a priest in an attempt separate them. Even though he went, Gena swore to Ivan that she would not be happy until he returned.

Ivan became a brilliant scholar and an avid student of primitive religions. He completed his education and returned to his hometown to await a parish assignment. When he got there he saw Gena again and found they both still shared the same feelings they had before he left, though Ivan was reluctant to act on them. Everything changed, however with the arrival of Father Raul Piestro.

Father Piestro is the head priest of Saint Vertinez Church, also known as Michael’s Sword. It is a secret organization within the that answers only to the Pope. They have the authority to take whatever they deem necessary to expose heretics. They wished to recruit Ivan because of a paper he wrote in school about the existence of demons in ancient religions which turned out to be accurate. They needed Ivan’s help to find the origins of an object called the Domas Porada. Ivan decided to leave once again, and once again Gena made an oath, swearing she would wait for him, no matter how long it takes.

Ivan arrives at the monastery where the object was found and began his research with some other scholars who were already there. During his time there he began having strange dreams of a man telling him to leave while he still had the opportunity. Then Father Piestro showed him a book documenting the story of Vascar De Guillon, a holy knight during the Crusades and a loyal servant of God. But when his family is killed due to an unknown disease, he feels betrayed by God and turns his back on Him, making a pact with the fallen angel Temozarela. Years later, he is arrested by the church and is interrogated by Betheal Gabarre. When Temozarela corrupted his faith, Betheal imprisoned him in the Domas Porada, the Matrix of Silence, and then took him to the American south-west and bound his own soul to Domas Porada.

This story only encouraged Ivan and the other researchers to open the Domas Pordada. However, some of the researchers grew suspicious of Father Piestro and demanded the Pope be informed of what they were doing. He could not allow that to happen and so he had all the researchers killed, except for Ivan who had discovered the key to unlocking the cage. He even goes so far as to kill Gena in front of him to remove all of Ivan’s earthly bonds of love and to convince him to complete the task of freeing Temozarela. The rage triggered by Gena’s death causes him to lose his faith in God and then he opens the Domas Porada, releasing Temozarela.

Ivan is then killed by Temozarela, but he is brought back to life by Betheal, now going by Belial. He offers Ivan the chance to destroy Temozarela and his servants if Ivan gives himself over to him in body and soul. But Ivan only gives him his soul, not his body, claiming that he will keep his consciousness until the end. And thus began his journey, fueled by hatred and his desire to kill Temozarela.

Creation

Priest was created by Hyung Min-Woo.

Character Evolution

Priest was once kind-hearted, if a tad naive, young man with a passion for ancient cultures. But after the death of his foster sister and the woman he loved, Gena, he changed. Something inside him snapped, leaving nothing but a burning hatred within him. He no longer cares about others or their well-being, only the destruction of Temozarela and his servants.

He has not shown any sign of changing as a person, however when Lizzie said she would be his 'Gena' if he helped her get a cure for the curse that she has been infected with, he was visibly aggravated by the remark, indicating he still possess at least a shred of his humanity.

Major Story Arcs

First Meeting

The first time we see Priest is on a passenger train in the Old West. On the train are several federal marshals escorting the prisoner, Lizzie, leader of the Rebel Angel Gang. But what they don't know is that there is something evil locked away in the eighth car. Everything seems find until the Angels arrive to free their leader.

The marshals put up a resistance and as a result people die. The spilled blood awakens the things sleeping in the last car. It proceeds to kill the passengers until no one but Lizzie and the Priest remain. The Priest then kills the zombies with silver bullets, and when he drops his gun he uses a silver knife. When he realizes that they are going to be overrun, he tells Lizzie to jump from the train and he lights a couple sticks of dynamite and blows up the train.

Saint Baldlas

After blowing up the train and surviving, the Priest makes his way to Saint Baldlas, to the master of the zombies that attacked him in . When he arrives there we find out that the master is Jarbilong, the Eleventh Priest, Servant of Temozarela. After killing many zombies the Priest tries to kill him, but Jarbilong is able to project illusions of himself on his zombie servants. However, the Priest is able to cut off the cross hanging around Jarbilong's neck, and then places it on a voodoo doll. He severely damages him, forcing Jarbilong to reveal his true form.

Jarbilong proves himself to be more dangerous than before, pushing the Priest to the brink of death. It is then that the shadow of Belial appears behind him, and he begins t lending the Priest some of his powers. After a bit more combat, the Priest is able to kill Jarbilong by removing his head. He also saves Lizzie, who followed him to the town, from a zombie who was about to kill her, but not before she becomes infected. He points his gun at her and says that she has been cursed and when the time comes, she should kill herself or they will meet again.

The Origin

In the present day, a priest is shown the journal of Ivan Isaacs, AKA the Priest, which tells his story and how he came to begin his crusade. It explains that he was an orphan who was adopted as a playmate for Jacob Isaacs' daughter. After they fall in love their father sends him to seminary school to become a priest. He returns after nine years and finds he still has feelings for his sister. He is then recruited by Michael's Sword who want him to study the Domas Porada.

He accidentally aids in the revival of Temozarela and the ancient battle he began, causing the death of both his sister and himself. In order to get revenge and atone for his part in his Temozarela's release, he makes a deal with a devil: he gives his soul to him in exchange for a second chance and the ability to destroy his enemies.

Archmode

After defeating Jarbilong, the Priest eventually makes his way to a village ruled over by Archmode, another fallen angel in service to Temozarela. Before being cast out, he was quite fond of his wings and attempted to regain that old glory by creating make-shift angels with wings like the ones he lost. After the Priest kills several of these creations, Archmode shows Ivan a glimpse of the story of the heretical angels' fall.

The Priest eventually overcomes the vision being shown to him and Archmode is enraged, and is determined to kill him, despite Temozarela's orders. He almost succeeds since, even after loosing his arm and teetering on the brink of death, the Priest refuses to give his body to Belial. As Archmode is about to finish the Priest off, another of Temozarela's servants arrive and kill him for defying their lord's command. He then gives the Priest Archmode's arm, saying it will make him stronger and bring him closer to accomplishing his goal

Weapons and Abilities

Due to his pact with Belial, the Priest is extremely strong, able to lift a man by his throat with one hand easily. He is also extremely durable, able to be shot, stabbed and severely beaten, and then getting up again. He is also very proficient with both guns and knives.

He has three primary weapons. The first is a tommy gun, which he carries around in one of his briefcases. He tends to use this weapon when he starts a fight, trying to kill as many as possible as quickly as possible. The next weapon is a sawed-off shotgun, used for close combat. And finally there is his silver knife, for hand-to-hand combat which he uses as a last resort when he is overwhelmed by opponents. He has also been seen using a voodoo doll, though that has been used only once.

He uses silver bullets for all his guns, since that is the only way to truly damage the Angels and their servants. He is able to afford such expensive ammo by hunting valuable criminals with high bounties. He kills them and takes their heads to the nearest town. Since the criminals he hunts are worth more money than the town has, he trades the heads for all the silver in town. He then melts down all the silver and makes bullets and puts fresh layers of silver on his knife.

Movie

In the film adaption, Ivan Isaac's is played by Paul Bettany.