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36. Father Jesse Custer

Father Jesse was a fan favorite in campaign one, serving as a territory leader after we deposed a church leader in charge of human trafficking. Despite being one of the strongest candidates for city leadership, he declined the offer (a fact that made him even better as a candidateseriously, if youre someone who doesnt WANT power, then youre exactly the person who should wield it properly). But regardless, Jesse was a great character and I think he made most of our top tens for campaign one, as he had this gruff, no-nonsense attitude, while still being kind and caring and effectively portraying how perhaps all religious people should behave. Also, he banged Huntress. Thats not pertinent information, but it does explain how he lost his eye, so there you go.

Coming back for campaign two, Jesses personality is largely the same, and the only reason he falls so low on this list is because campaign two is so jam-packed with characters, and theres only so much time for people to make an impression. Still, Jesses managed to get back on the list largely by his own merits (I fully admit there are some campaign one returnees that make this list with a heavy weighting of their initial appearance on top of what theyve shown in campaign two thus far), and hes once again serving as the preacher in Zonn Zorrs cathedral. Hes certainly found his niche, thats for damn sure, and hes good at it.

Now, Jesses introduction to the campaign doesnt really warrant a lengthy explanation the way that some other characters do. He showed up during a mission to Warpath (which was memorable forlets just say OTHER reasons), and we were just glad to see him again. And after we successfully escaped a Society incursion with only one major casualty, Jesse decided to come back with us to Zonn Zorr, where he quickly took up residence as the preacher in our vacant chapel. Its honestly somewhat strange, since so many other characters have major roles within the sessions they first appeared, but Jesse seems to have largely coasted on the back of his pre-established lore, since he was simply one of a large collection of characters that joined us via Warpath and the overarching Convoy storyline.

Once he settled into Zonn Zorr though, thats when Jesse came into his own as a campaign two character. A lot of the returnees have experienced dramatic change in the four years (campaign one was wallpunched from 1999 to 2004) since we last saw them, and Jesse is no different. He was an extremely overpowered ally in campaign one, sticking with us just about to the very end of the No Mans Land year of hell, because his Word of God power was so darn useful. But come campaign two, Jesses faith has been shaken, and he no longer has access to the very ability that set him apart from mere mortals in the first place. On top of that, the reason why he lost his divine gift is because he claims to have killed God Himself (or as we later learned, he set in motion the events that led to the killing of God via the Saint of Killers). Needless to say, theres something very interesting about a man of faith who no longer has that faith himself.

As a character in Zonn Zorr, Id say Jesse has been defined largely by his connection to two PCs. First, you have Rozetta, who knew him back in campaign one. Only this time, she has her adoptive daughter Susie in tow, creating a fun little dynamic with Jesse (or Father Jsse, as Susie calls him). Rozetta, even back in campaign one, was a big believer in Hronmeer (the Martian god of death), but in campaign two, shes passed that praise on to her daughter. Now, Susie visits Jesse on a regular basis, for religious education. It works out well that Jesse has lost his faith somewhat, because I feel like it allows him to slip more easily into discussions of deities from other religions. And of course, Suzie is enamored with this preacher who feeds into her affinity for death and the overall macabre.

Most importantly to THIS write-up though, I feel like Jesse has a decent connection with Pepper. As I mentioned above, he ranks somewhat low because its hard to keep up with each and every character I want to chat with in Zonn Zorr (there are so many, including several I still havent gotten one-on-one chats with), but still, our few scenes have been great. Pepper (or more specifically, her true identity: Alyssa Davenport) spent most of her life either ensconced within the Mormon Church, or later ensconced within the Protestant Church. Admittedly, playing a religious (and a scientist) character has proven difficult to maintain from an RP angle; I often times feel like I can maybe do one scene with Jesse about faith, or one scene about science and/or faith with Mr. Terrific before I start struggling to come up with new conversation hooks on the subject.

Still, when I talk with Jesse, I do enjoy the discussions we have, because Jesse has lost faith and generally lost conviction in his belief in God. Killing the Man will do that. Meanwhile, Pepper very much believes in divine predestination. Shes definitely questioning her faith, but she either truly believes, or warps herself into believing that everything that happens to her happens for a God-given purpose. Being afflicted with her acid powers is punishment for her scientific hubris, but at the same time, that punishment was used as punishment for someone else who ran afoul of Pepper during her first metahuman manifestation. As such, having this girl who somewhat believes herself as an instrument of Gods justice (especially since weve recently come across Wally the God Boy, who is the reincarnation of Jesses slain God) creates a fun dynamic for philosophical discussion.

Hint for #35: The roommate of a PC.