The Antagonist

The Antagonist is anomalous Bowser entity created by @spiciii_ on March 24th, 2022.

Biography
The Antagonist is an entity whose central goal is to entertain the player. It wants to ensure the player of whatever game its grafted to has the best experience tailored to them, reading so through some form of paranormal means.

The way it gives the player their desired experience is through game manipulation, placing about whatever it desires to fit a player's exact desires. It takes this to the extreme, however, wanting the player to continuously keep playing the game, even to the point where it would be physically degrading or even impossible to do so.

This has brought about multiple deaths across multiple Mario titles during the 90's. He never intends to do so on purpose. He purely wishes to give infinite, unadulterated fun to the player

Origin
It isn't clear exactly what the Antagonist is. Demon, angel, its unclear. All that is known about him is his prime directive - make any game he enters as enjoyable as possible.

He first appeared in a copy of Super Mario Bros. in the 80's, with a host that took longest to expire. From there, he has jumped between multiple games, influencing multiple players with his game. None have survived, most have angered him.

Behaviour/Mannerisms
Antagonist presents itself being very formal. It speaks fluently in near every modern human language, seeming to have a different voice for each of its many linguistics, & always with formal tone. It speaks to please the player, frequently apologizing if a player fails a level for example.

It will always coerce the player into playing the game, even at its own deprecation. It always keeps a smile when present in the player's view.

If a player were to purposely lose, turn the game on & off or generally avoid playing the game while Antag is able to perceive it, he will become irritable. During this, his personality will slip to be more in line with Bowser, his design's clear inspiration. If pushed hard enough, this can lead to many in-game consequences, including auditory and visual attacks causing in most cases, severe migraines.

Abilities

 * 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Due to being interwoven completely into his game, Antag IS the game he's within. This gives him control over everything from spawning & placing assets to colors to the very rules of the game he's within. This includes crashes. Hardware limitations still apply.


 * 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 Antag can jump between various electronic devices. Doing so however leaves a period of time where he's at his weakest, needing to adjust & become one with the new game he's moved to. His powers do not return in full until his being is fully merged with a device, and the merge time varies depending on how different the device he's jumping to is. For this reason, he prioritises Mario titles.


 * 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 Antagonist is both aware of the player & actively speaks to them through Mario throughout a playthrough. He will only directly refer to the player if the playing situation is frustrating him.


 * 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 Taking up any form of any entity within a game he's in, lacking any eyes & maintaining his base SMB NES color palette. He tends to only do this for boss fights, preferring his main form.


 * 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 He can make his body persist of any tileset within the game, most commonly lava as it's the biggest threat to the player.

Weaknesses

 * 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 Antagonist's one & only weakness is the fact that he has no control over anything outside of his play space. He cannot modify or access physical hardware or leave the game in any way shape or form. This basically means if the player turns off the game, he's off with it. If the game cartridge is broken, unless it's repaired, he's gone forever (as far as we know.)

Trivia

 * Antag has an unrevealed 'Brawn' form, which takes restraint off of his natural physical strength in sacrifice of his potent game manipulation.
 * While its distinct, formal personality very much contrasts Bowser's, it can occasionally adopt his mannerisms. This includes his father-like instincts.
 * The Antagonist's lighter parts are made of collagen - they have the feel & consistency of skin yet it's incredibly dense & durable.
 * His suit is made up of keratin. While being a part of his body, he can remove it if he ever desires to.
 * He has no eyes, despite being able to see everything.
 * His favourite food is filet mignon, though he enjoys varied steaks.
 * He's best friends with The Announcer by @NendoWasTaken and EXILE by @zekirarevenant
 * Antag is in fact, polyamorous and pansexual in both canon & fanon iterations, though he has no canon partners.
 * He despises those who try and portray themselves as 'gods', as he doesn't believe in such a thing.
 * Antag's true name is unknown. According to him, it's 'incomprehensible to the human mind'.