Daemon "Sadi" SaDiablo

Daemon's aunty is a political figure, so even if someone has heard of Daemon himself, they'll have heard of his aunty. Also possibly of his...exploits among the scandals of the rich & famous. They're from Stamford, CT.

Daemon’s aunty and family matriarch, Dorothea SaDiablo, used to be big news as a Republican from Connecticut and a lot of the horrible in Daemon’s life stems from her efforts to become the HBIC of the US of A and to push the family’s Hayll Corporation from its lingering death throes into economic dominance. Daemon himself is a bastard, supposedly born out of a wedlock to Dorothea’s cousin, a woman named Hepsabah. Rather than be cut loose and denied because of his illegitimacy—which would have been the best case scenario, considering the kind of 1%-er bullshit Dorothea’s family gets up to—Daemon unfortunately proved very early to have the family’s gift of the shine. That kind of thing was kept very much within the family, so he was stuck being used as a political pawn in his family’s games as they jockeyed for power and and money.

Daemon’s always had a suspicion that he’s in some manner adopted--though to what purpose he has zero percent idea, since the SaDiablos oftentimes didn’t even seem to want him. Still, they vociferously denied any ‘memories’ he brought to them of a time before Hepsabah became his mother. His upbringing was riddled with abuses as they attempted to mold him into someone "who reflected well upon the family" and he fought them every step of the way. The methods ran the gamut of abuse (physical, sexual, and emotional), to the point that most of his morality was stripped away in the interest of sheer survival. Dorothea herself was the worst perpetrator with Hepsebah a shallow mimic. Then, too, his family would use the lives and well-being of their servants and other incidental individuals to strong-arm Daemon into obedience.

Daemon reached a point at which he became, essentially, currency. His looks, his business acumen, and his skills in bed were traded for political and economic favor. He was only a minor cousin, after all, but a handsome one of rumored skill. Sex scandals followed him from the point he became "legal," and as he grew older, the more BDSM-flavored the scandals became. He gained a reputation for being sadist more than willing to range into edge-play the more dubious his consent became.

The heftiest leverage Dorothea wielded over him was a mysterious half-brother, Lucivar, with whom Daemon had a complicated-but-loyal foundational relationship. From the earliest, bad shit would happen to Lucivar if Daemon ever became fed up enough with his treatment that the usual disciplinary measures began to fail. Losing scholarships, being shuffled between foster homes, and other major life upsets. This escalated to the point where when Daemon finally split from the family and spun up a vicious little company intent on taking bites out of Hayll’s market-share, Dorothea strait-up threatened Lucivar’s life. She’d send him to Daemon in pieces if he didn’t stop threatening both her company and her image. As over the top as the threat might have been, Daemon folded with dignity (Lucivar was too important to not assume she was in earnest) and Hayll acquired his little company, but he never forgot the threat.

After that, scandal stalked Daemon all the harder. He earned a reputation for solid business decision-making as he threw himself into working for the family and was promoted to COO of several subsidiaries in succession, yanking them into solvency and then being shuffled on to do the same to the next. In between, he fended off a murder scandal that was ruled an accident despite evidence to the contrary (bribes and some well-placed family pressure relieved him of charges). He became much more careful with removing players from the board after that, and there were rumors of one more death (only one) that followed him.

The Result: Daemon, personality-wise, grew cold and vicious toward anyone who associated themselves in any way with the Hayll Corporation and the SaDiablos (and most of those in his income bracket), and defaulted to assuming the worst unless someone proved otherwise. He became refined in his amorality, willing to reflect the worst of the abuses perpetrated upon him back on his abusers. Dorothea especially earned his enmity, and he put her on his Murder List to await an opportunity while he undermines her as often as he can get away with it.

However, he couldn’t quite shake his compassion or his loyalty. It was his loyalty to his half-brother and his compassion for those in the SaDiablo blast radius that kept him under his family’s thumb. When he could, he shielded them from the worst of his family’s excesses. His nature is more that of a protector, and he will actively work to better the lives of those around him especially when he’s working in direct opposition to his aunty’s desires. Both arrogant and perceptive, his moral compass is deeply skewed, and he presents more as a villain than a hero in innumerable ways. But if someone’s character can be judged by how they treat their waiter, there’s hope for Daemon once he’s shaken free of his life. He’s still extremely extra and without any chill to speak of, but still. Hope.