Toonman Archenemy: Cyclus the Endless (Patreon)

Alright guys! Time to introduce a brand new batch of Toonman villains! Let's start with this guy- Cylcus the Endless, a man cursed with an abstract form of reincarnation-based immortality who initially befriends Toonman... just to convince the hero to kill him!

ORIGIN

Once a great warrior during times before recorded history, Cyclus led a crusade to escape the confines of death, and at the end of his adventure he had sacrificed his young ward during a ritual in exchange for what he thought was immortality. In truth, Cyclus could still die, but with each death he would be reborn into an abstract form of reincarnation into a new body, all of his memories of his old life intact but forced to experience living life anew from birth to his next unknown death each time. For eternity Cyclus led too many lives, being everything from a conqueror or a killer to a hero or even just a family man, until in present day he had been living as a high profile african-american lawyer in Vaudeville. It was at this point after having loved and lost many different beloved friends, families, children and lovers, and gained so much so many times only to lose it easily and never get it back, Cyclus sought to end his “immortality” and discovered that the only way to break the cycle was to have a warrior of a noble heart kill him.

Then came the day Toonman appeared in the human world, and having witnessed the cartoon’s heroism and his joyful outlook on life Cyclus saw the potential of the warrior with a noble heart in the Animated Ace. He befriended Toonman and represented him in his trial for killing Slimetime, and after winning his case Cyclus continued to be close friend and ally Toonman and shared many adventures with him, even coming to his rescue occasionally. Eventually, Cyclus was certain Toonman was the warrior who could end his curse, and revealed to his the truth of his existence before begging his friend to kill him. But Toonman refused, claiming he could not kill his friend and holding strong on his morals against killing as a cartoon and a hero. Cyclus, desperate at coming so close to being free, refused to accept his friend’s answer, and decided that if Toonman would not kill him as his friend then he would kill Cyclus as his enemy. 

Since that Day, Cyclus has become one of Toonman’s most dangerous and personal enemies, going to extremes that no other villain would against him, his loved ones, and the people he protects, all to force Toonman to end his life and thus his reign of terror once and for all.

Powers/Abilities:

Due to his “immortality”, Cyclus holds an extreme intellect based on the retained memories from all his rebirths, which include thousands of years of knowledge and experience in strategy, hand-to-hand and weapon-based combat, many fields of science, law, art, medicine, politics and even magic. This knowledge and experience makes Cyclus one of Toonman’s most dangerous and superior villains in terms of intellect despite being reincarnated as a normal human being.

So, the idea for Cyclus as a Toonman enemy is an interesting story. I really wanted someone who could challenge Toonman's fear of death and personal code of not killing, and the idea came to me of a scenario of what if Toonman was asked by someone to kill them as a form of mercy or ending their pain? It developed into this idea of sort of a sympathetic Ra's Al Ghul/Vandal Savage type immortal who kinda got the short end of the immortality stick and would specifically need someone as pure and good as Toonman to end his suffering. It allowed me to craft someone who would start out as a friend and supporting cast member of Toonman's series, only in for a cruel irony to show his true colors and become one of his most personal villains. It seemed like a great foil to the hero the same as Simon Says would be.

So, Cyclus' form of immortality is kind of weird, but basically it's a form of reincarnation. Essentially, whenever he dies, his soul is reincarnated into a newly born baby, and the family or circumstances in which he is born into changes every time, so ultimately there's no biological connection to these rebirths. When Cyclus is reborn, he retains all his memories and adult mind from his previous lives, but it can be a very hard thing to explain or believe in the new family he's born into and in the past it's led most to be convinced he's a demon child, so for his safety he keeps this knowledge to himself. While some would argue that his reincarnation is a gift, it really is more a curse than anything. He's had to live through adolescence, adulthood and old age multiple times, as different races and genders and has experienced prejudice and injustice from every side of humanity. The situation and times he's born into through out history is also a gamble- sometime he's born into a loving family but only loses them to tragedy, others an extremely abusive family that has often caused his early death into another reincarnation. Cyclus has attempted to make the best of his immortality many times, building multiple fortunes and leading vast Empires, only to loose his fortune with no way to reclaim in his next life or just to have the Empire he built fall due to changing times. He's had multiple lovers and even families, but has watched so many of them die and because he's fathered so many children finding love again can be difficult without knowing if his next lover is actually a descendant from one of his previous lives. In short, Cylcus has been reincarnated too many times and is ready to end his existence once and for all, and believes only Toonman can do that for him. But we all know the Animated Ace fears death and has delevoped a no-killing-if-at-all-possible rule, so that's not going to happen. Hence, Cylcus' decision to be Toonman's enemy and force him to break his rule by any means necessary.

Hope you guys like this new Toonman villain! Let me know with a comment below!

Toonman: The Animated Ace © NRG Comics

Design by David Velasquez

Art by Danilo Cassonato