Nefarian Serpine
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Nefarian Serpine is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the fantasy novel Skulduggery Pleasant by Irish author, Derek Landy.
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[edit] History
The premise in Skulduggery Pleasant follows the idea that magic is real and those who practice it live among humankind in secret. Many years prior to the events of the first book, an evil sorcerer named Mevolent waged a war with the rest of the magical community, seeking world domination. Nefarian Serpine, an exceptionally powerful wizard in his own right, acted as one of Mevolent's Three Generals, alongside Baron Vengeous and Lord Vile.
Serpine killed the wife and child of the main protagonist of the story, Skulduggery Pleasant, whom he subsequently captured and killed. Mevolent's servants then placed Skulduggery's body on a pike and burnt it for all to see. Skulduggery, however, regained a form of consciousness, returning as a skeleton and assistimg the resistance movement in defeating Mevolent. In spite of Mevolent's fall, Skulduggery was unable to exact his revenge upon Serpine, who was allowed to walk free due to a truce.
It is revealed that Serpine was responsible for the death of Gordon Edgely, the uncle of Stephanie Edgely, one of the book's two main protagonists alongside Skulduggery himself. Serpine's aim was to retrieve a key which was in Gordon's possession, which would enable him to obtain the Sceptre of the Ancients, an incredibly powerful weapon which was used to banish a pantheon of dark gods named the Faceless Ones (worshipped by Mevolent and his followers). Serpine's eventual goal was to use the Sceptre to obtain the Book of Names, with which he could dominate and enslave every living person through the power of their true names.
To assist his efforts in locating the key, Serpine recruited Mr. Bliss, the strongest man alive, and Sagacious Tome, a member of the Council of Elders (the governing magical body of Europe). He eventually captured Skulduggery and proceeded to torture him, but Stephanie Edgely rescued Skulduggery with the help of a swordswoman named Tanith Low and Ghastly Bespoke, an immensely strong tailor and one of Skulduggery's close friends.
Nevertheless, Serpine managed to obtain the key, retrieving the Sceptre from its hiding place in the maze of catacombs beneath Gordon Edgely's manor. With the aid of Sagacious Tome, he then murdered the other two Elders, Eachan Meritorius and Morwenna Crow, before destroying Tome himself. With the three Elders dead, the spell that protected the Book of Names was broken and Serpine attempted to obtain it, but Skulduggery and Stephanie arrived in time to impede him. Following a brief struggle, Skulduggery shielded himself against the Sceptre using the Book of Names, which Serpine inadvertently destroyed in the process. Flying into a vicious rage, he attacked Skulduggery and attempted to kill Stephanie, but was disarmed and destroyed by Skulduggery with the aid of the Sceptre.
[edit] Powers and abilities
In the novel there are two different types of magician, Elementals and Adepts. Serpine is the later. He is also a Necromancer, a magician with the power to control the dead. In the book he replaces his blood with liquid darkness, making himself an Undead. In addition to his Necromantic powers he has the ability to fire projectiles of solid purple smoke from his hands which serve as an adequate weapon. Arguably the most formidable weapon in Serpine's arsenal however is his red right hand which has somehow been stripped of all it's flesh and imbued with the ability to put individuals in terrible agony, eventually proving fatal when pointed at them. Serpine also possesses an extremely cunning intellect.
[edit] Personality
A deranged and psychopathic individual, Serpine is regarded by many, Skulduggery included to be insane and it is never clarified whether or not the Faceless Ones are actually real or just a myth which Serpine in his insanity believes to be real. In many ways he is a fanatical terorrist with a religious agenda who believes that all human life except his own is insignificant and who seeks to destroy humanity in the name of his gods. He is also a sadist who takes great pleasure in the pain and misery of others, particularly Skulduggery's. He killed Skulduggery's wife and child just to lure him into a trap and is known to have prolonged Skulduggery's anguish by torturing him before finally killing him. He also takes great pleasure in using his dark powers to torture Skulduggery for information during the story. Serpine holds most beings besides himself in disdain however he does take an interest in Stephanie and makes an attempt to convince her to join him, possibly because he sees her intelligence and contempt for the mundane, traits which he himself possesses. He also has a grudging respect for Skulduggery as a worthy opponent as shown by him saying "I want you to know the world will be a less strange place without you in it" before attempting to kill him. Despite his ruthless, sadistic personality Serpine presents himself in a cultured and sophisticated manner and possesses a dry, cynical sense of humour and an eloquent, theatrical way of speaking which Skulduggery frequently makes fun of.
