Tom Judge

Tom Judge is a fallen priest and the host of the Rapture. After discovering the Rapture, he met Tilly Grimes, the great-granddaughter of Horace Grimes, blessed with the same quasi-supernatural math abilities. The Rapture transported Tom to hell, where he came into contact with the doomed Jackie Estacado, host of the Darkness. The Rapture brought hope to Estacado, freeing him and returning him to the earthly plane.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Tom was once a well revered and faithful Catholic priest. However, one day a man came to Tom and asked him what he should do if someone offends him. Tom answered for the man to simply 'look into your heart and know what to do'. The man went home and killed his wife, stabbing her 97 times and then he fried himself and his two children in a bath tub. Tom blamed himself for the man's actions and turned to liquor and women in an attempt to drown his guilt.

Universe[]

On the night of his birthday, Tom is relaxing with some booze and two prostitutes. Having trouble getting any sleep, Tom accidentally finds the Rapture hidden behind a loose brick. He takes it and begins to hear it whisper within him. Suddenly a woman bursts through the door and shoots one of the prostitutes, who turns out to be a demon. The woman, named Tilly Grimes, instructs Tom to wear the artifact around his neck. He does so and transforms into a brimstone form and slaughters the demons. He loses consciousness soon afterwards.

Artifacts[]

After the destruction of the previous universe and the creation of another, Tom was reborn. Like his previous self, he was once a priest who had since lost his faith. However, he never discovered the Rapture and instead became an investigator for the FBI. At some point in his life, a woman carved a Rapture-shaped scar on his whole torso.

Erewhon[]

At some point, Aram contacts Tom and Tilly, telling them about an anomaly in Jackie's home, Erewhon. Together they set out to investigate it. As they arrive, they find the house surrounded by overgrown foliage and flesh eating plants.

As they get closer to the house, Tilly senses that the source of the anomaly is inside of it. When they reach the door, they're attacked by the infected guards. Tom quickly becomes a brimstone warrior and brutally kills them. When they get inside, they find unstable Jenny who plays with her dolls. Hope notices them, but Tom tries to calms her down saying that they won't hurt them. She doesn't believe them and proceeds to attack Tom. The two begin to fight as Tilly tries to approach Jenny.

During the fight, Tom kills Hope's kittens, enraging her. Meanwhile, as Tilly touches Jenny she's overwhelmed by all the information and gets a stroke. She then pleads Tom to get her out of here. At this moment, the Doppelganger returns home and attacks Tom. Tom tries to burn him, but it doesn't work as the Doppelganger doesn't have a faith in anything. Finally the fight is stopped by Jenny who ignores the Doppelganger's objections, screams at him to let Tom and Tilly go. The Doppelganger complies and lets them to leave. When they go outside, Tilly reveals that Jenny must die if they don't want the world to rip apart itself.

Personality[]

Tom is described as the "rock-bottom" archetype; unshaven, alcoholic, and having lost his faith in God.

Powers & Abilities[]

Powers[]

Rapture: Tom is the host of the Rapture, one of the thirteen artifacts. that grant incredible power to its wielders.
- Rapture-Empowered Physiology: The Rapture bestows upon Tom vast power, including the ability to transform himself into a brutish brimstone warrior.
  - Rapture Form: Tom can transform into a powerful brimstone warrior.
    - Superhuman Strength: Tom can summon supernatural physical strength to overpower and kill lower-level demons with ease by stabbing a hole through their bodies with his hand. Tom, while in his Rapture form, is able to challenge mid-level and possibly higher-level demons. Humans are no threat to him in terms of bodily power while he is empowered by the Rapture.
    - Pyre Manifestation: Tom is radiant with craters of fire while in his brimstone form.
    - Limited Invulnerability: Tom's Rapture form makes his bodily tissue as strong as brimstone. This makes him invulnerable to conventional injury from things such as gunfire, blades, and intense physical trauma. He uses this ability to survive the demon-infested and hazardous environment of Hell. He is unaffected by extreme heat, even while in human form.
- Rapture-Empowered Metaphysiology: The Rapture empowers Tom's soul with power and authority thought once to be possessed only by God.
- Absolution Granting: Tom can purify condemned souls of their sins and free them.
- Demon Summoning: Tom can summon demons.
- Clairvoyance: By looking through the Rapture Tom can see things that are imperceptible to humans. He can see demons in their true forms and the gates of Hell.

Abilities[]

Sensory Synchronization: By getting close to a corpse, Tom can see and hear glimpses of what said corpse saw and heard before death. He then is seen touching The Rapture and seeing the previous universe and learning all about it as well as the rest of the Thirteen Artifacts. This ability is his alone and seems to be independent of the Rapture.
Exorcism: As a former priest Tom has the knowledge to perform an exorcism on a demonically possessed person.