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Character Sketch: Leon

Character Sketch: Leon Rodrigues  (Rising Darkness, OTS #3)

This month we were supposed to either discuss our favorite character or draw up a character sketch, so I chose the latter. Mostly because I wanted to explore what kind of person this character was when he was alive, and how that translates to him as a character now that he’s dead. Leave it to me to choose an antagonist.

Leon Rodrigues, a single man, age nineteen, was an immigrant from Salvadore, Brazil in 1887. He was an only child. His father died when he was very young, and his mother died when he was twelve. He was raised Catholic. After he was orphaned, he was taken under the wing of an elder Bokonon (priest), Lucas Jatene, who practiced Candomblé Jeje, an Afro Brazillian religion. There, he learned the ways of Vodun and became an initiated Bokonon. However, he never really shed those Catholic beliefs he grew up with. He came to believe the Christian God was an adversary to him, and incorporated the devil into his practice. When Lucas discovered Leon’s covert devil worship, Leon was exiled from Lucas’ house. So, at the age of eighteen, Leon he made a pact with the devil to help him leave Brazil for a better life in California.  This came to pass and Leon moved to California where he immediately took a job as a ranch hand and laborer to Mr. Devin Marco, a cattle rancher.

Devin Marco, who was about to lose his ranch and who knew (via rumors among the other workers) of Leon’s strange religion, sought Leon’s help to make a pact with the devil to secure the ranch and a few empty goldmines in the Sierra Nevada goldfields that he hoped still had something left in them. Leon, who saw his opportunity for wealth, performed the ritual for his new employer (for a price), who in turn began selling the cattle and converting grazing fields into orchards. The ranch, now orchard, became profitable again and Leon gained the reputation of being a Satanic priest who could bring anyone prosperity for the right price. Devin Marco, and other land and business owners in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, began flocking to Leon for help. Some of them grew greedy. Leon took advantage of this, and used his natural charisma to bring these followers into his coven, where they all began practicing Satanic magic.

Leon’s Characteristics:

  • Hair: Dark Brown
  • Eyes: Dark Brown
  • Height: 5’7″
  • Weight: 145 lbs
  • Physique: Rather built.

What motivated him in life? Wealth. Leon, coming from a poor family and a culture where wealth was revered,  sought money, respect, and women. All of which he felt he acquired through his worship of the devil. His life, being rather plush once people realized the power he had, caused him to seek a way of returning after he was dead. He wanted more life. To this end, sacrifices of human flesh were made.

What motivates him in death? More life. Leon’s spirit seeks to find a new host body in which to reside and continue his work with the devil. He also promised Devin Marco a second chance at life.

This has definitely given me a great deal of insight into this character and the book overall.

About The FM Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

Today’s post was inspired by the topic Favorite Characters or Character Sketches. This month’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour, an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and read their thoughts on characters, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. I blog with this tour the 25th of every month.

Steph is an award winning and bestselling author of thrilling steamy and paranormal romances, dark urban fantasy, occult horror-thrillers, cozy mysteries, contemporary romance, sword and sorcery fantasy, and books about the esoteric and Daemonolatry. A Daemonolatress and forever a resident of Smelt Isle, she is happily married and cat-mom to three pampered house cats. Her muse is a demanding sadistic Dom who often keeps her up into the wee hours of the morning. You can contact her at swordarkeereon@gmail.com

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