Character Profile: Penumbra (DREAM)

[This post will not include *major* spoilers for Dream. It will include fun facts and trivia that won’t necessarily make it into the novel.]

Copyright © 2020, D.C. Canipe

Basic Stats

Sex: Female

Gender Expression: All woman.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Age: 38

Race/Ethnicity/Culture: White/Caucasian/Modern (wicked) Witch

Penumbra was born and raised in the forest, behind the wooden walls of her parent’s cabin in South Carolina. While she attended regular public school eventually, she was always sheltered from the outside world, as she was born with magical powers the likes of which no one but her family would understand.

Thus, she was actively discouraged from making friends. This, coupled with her father’s abuse, and her mother’s neglect, turned her into the monster that she is today.

Height: 5′6

Body type: Slender and Fit

Appearance: Being from Irish descent, Penumbra USED to have snow white skin and emerald eyes. After “the curse”, she was turned green, and slowly began to rot away on the inside. Her eyes turned a fearsome amber, and her once soft, calming voice became ragged and raspy. After accepting her role as the villain, she began to exclusively wear black dresses and pointed hats.

Tattoos/Piercings: N/A

Relationships

Family: Penumbra had both a mother and a father, but they didn’t do anything but hurt her. She still loves them dearly, but her memories are plagued by her father’s insults, and violent outbursts, and her mother’s disinterest.

Friends: Penumbra has never made a single friend in her life. At least, not any that she remembers.

Sexuality

Orientation: Lesbian

Attraction: Penumbra definitely has a type. She’s always fallen for strong, caramel-skinned, feminine women - even if only one of them has ever returned her affections.

Skills: Penumbra has elemental magic, consisting of fire, water, earth, and air. She mostly uses glowing green fireballs and electric green bolts of lightning, however. Her biggest skill is taking an elemental energy into her, and converting it into another.

After having spent years studying her craft in magic college, she is also exceptionally talented in potion-making.

Hobbies: Having been obsessed with surviving for years (as the curse sucks more and more life force away from her) Penumbra hasn’t had much time for hobbies. But every once in a while, she enjoys being tender with Belladonna, and waltzing with her through the ballroom of her massive black castle.

Personality and Character

In a lot of ways, Penumbra has lost herself. Where she used to be playful, innocent, and fun-loving, she is now cold, bitter, and resentful. Her mind has turned to focus solely on surviving, and thus, she will do just about anything to do so.

Goals/Dreams/Aspirations: Penumbra’s goal is just to survive. The black magic curse that constricts her threatens to eat her alive, unless she consumes the innocence of children. Once Dante has turned eighteen, she must find a new victim to feed off of. And she has to keep his friends locked away in Halcyon, or else they’ll all try and stop her.

Beliefs: Penumbra has prayed to every god imaginable, begging them to rid her of this curse that slowly, painfully eats away at her. None have answered. So she’s turned her back to them all.

Fears: Penumbra is terrified of dying, because she knows the dark karma she’s racked up over the years would result in an even worse punishment in the next life. She was once afraid of turning into a monster, but that happened so slowly that she didn’t even notice until it was too late.

Insecurities: Her green skin, the smell of rot that follows her, those glowing amber eyes, the dark, unnerving energy that flows around her, making her blood-red hair dance about as if she were in a spiral of winds - everything about her physical appearance has become an insecurity.