Hybrid Theory

Rayne is a complex young woman and the child of a vampire father and a human mother. Raised to be a powerful assassin from a young age, Rayne is bloodthirsty, ruthless, and able to kill without concern for her victims. She is also extremely confident in her abilities and seldom shows signs of weakness. She often seems cold and brooding, but she appears to derive pleasure from death and destruction. Her methods are downright sadistic at times, and it’s not unusual for her to decapitate or dismember her enemies. Her sarcastic wit is almost as sharp as the blades she carries, and Rayne frequently taunts and belittles her opponents before killing them. Despite not being real, Rayne has appeared topless in the pages of Playboy. Her father’s vampire buddies are never going to let him live that down.

Zeus fathered dozens of children with mortal women, but Kratos is almost certainly his least favorite. The bald head, goatee, earrings, tattoos, and eye scar are supposed to make him look like a badass, but Kratos is a total try-hard. When Kratos was unable to control his powers, he ended up killing his family in an act of rage and blamed the gods for his ordeal. Haunted by visions of his mortal past, Kratos sought to overthrow his father on Mount Olympus. Along the way, Zeus punished Kratos’ mother, Callisto, by turning her into a beast. Kratos had already killed his wife and daughter, and Zeus forced him to kill his own mother as well. Kratos eventually defeated Zeus and ended the reign of the Olympian gods. After killing pretty much everyone in his family, Kratos presumably spent the rest of his crawling in his skin. His wounds, they would not heal.

Jessica is the teenage daughter of a human mother and a “beastman” father. Her father believes her to be a well-mannered priestess-in-training, but Jessica has a bit of a rebellious streak and is constantly skipping class. Her father often tells Jessica how much she reminds him of her mother. In reality, Jessica has a lot more in common with her dad and shares the same thirst for adventure. Having lived most of her life hiding her true personality from those closest to her, it should be no surprise that Jessica is somewhat difficult to read. She does her best to remain calm and collected, but she’s naturally outspoken and prone to violent mood swings. She’s constantly insulting her friends and even threatens them with violence, but her short temper and bad attitude make her one of the most interesting characters in the Lunar series.

Melia has shared heritage with the winged High Entia race and the more humanoid Homs. Her father observed a tradition where the High Entia emperor would take two consorts; one of High Entia lineage, and the other a Homs. Melia was ultimately sired with his Homs consort. Melia’s father eventually chooses her as his successor, but many resent her half-Homs ancestry and target her for assassination. After completing dangerous trials, Melia is ultimately deemed worthy of the throne. The discrimination against Melia never made any sense in the first place. The only thing that distinguished Melia from pureblooded High Entia was the fact that she had slightly smaller wings on her head. She was also missing the gene that mutated their race into flying monsters, but that’s one for the “win” column.

After Donovan’s human mother decided to bone a vampire, the villagers expressed concerns about the child produced by their union. Donovan and his mother were treated like outcasts, but the villagers’ fear was not unfounded. When Donovan was still a child, something triggered his cursed blood and he ended up killing everyone in his village – including his mother. Donovan was kind of embarrassed about the whole ordeal and set off on his own to find peace. After spending a decade as a devout Buddhist, Donovan finally found purpose when he met an emotionless child name Anita. Hoping to save Anita’s heart, Donovan set off with her to hunt all the Darkstalkers in the world. What better to atone for your own existence than travelling the world with a young girl and killing monsters, right?

Eddie was the world’s best roadie for the world’s worst band. After being injured in a stage accident, Eddie was whisked away by the “Eternal Firebeast” whose amulet Eddie unknowingly wore as a belt buckle. When Eddie came to, he found himself in a demon-filled fantasy world inspired by heavy metal album covers. Eddie was able to understand ancient writings and could somehow transform into a winged creature in the heat of battle. In time, Eddie eventually discovered the source of his powers. Many years in the future, a brave warrior name Riggnarok followed a demon empress named Succoria through time in order to assassinate her. When Riggnarok took pity on the demon, the two fell in love and Eddie was the result of their union. Some view Eddie as the chosen one, but he prefers to make others look good from behind the scenes.

While serving as guardian for a quaint fishing village, Shantae was called to action when a notorious lady-pirate threatened the town. Shantae was saddled with anxiety and concerned that the villagers would not accept her as their guardian if they discovered that she was only a half-genie. Shantae eventually overcame her uncertainty and embraced the many powers in her command. Her half-genie nature gave her the ability to perform magical belly dances that gave her the power of teleportation and transformation. By learning the correct dance, Shantae could take the form of monkeys, elephants, spiders, harpies, and mermaids. Shantae has little knowledge about her past, but she knows that her mother was a genie and it is heavily implied that her father was a brave warrior who looked like Karnov and apparently liked to bang genies.

Terra is the first character we are introduced to in Final Fantasy VI and a key figure in the impending war between the empire and the rebellion. When we meet her, Terra is a confused amnesiac who is frightened by her own magical abilities. The few memories she has are disturbing to her, and Terra is concerned that others will try to harness her powers. It’s eventually revealed that Terra was born in the Esper World to an esper father, Maduin, and a human mother, Madonna. When the Esper World was raided by Imperial forces, Terra was taken by the Emperor to be raised as a living weapon. After being brain-washed and enslaved, Terra was manipulated into using her innate magic against the Empire’s enemies. Terra has understandable trust issues, but she learns to control her powers and resolves to use them to make the world a better place.

The flippant star of the Devil May Cry series is the son of a woman named Eva and the demon, Sparda. Acting as a paranormal mercenary, Dante spends most of his time exterminating malevolent demons and other supernatural forces. Dante chose the path of a vigilante devil hunter in order to seek vengeance on those that killed his mother and corrupted his twin brother, Vergil. Their father Sparda was a noble fighter with a righteous heart who chose to protect the human world at the expense of being labelled as a traitor by his demon brethren. Vergil embraces his demonic heritage and will do anything to obtain the power that his father tried so hard to repress. Dante is much more laid back and doesn’t take himself as seriously as his brother does. He’s confident in his abilities however, and will casually mouth off to even the most powerful of demons.

Alucard is the most compelling character in the entire Castlevania series and is more versatile than your everyday variety vampire hunter. Not only does he have hundreds of weapons and items at his disposal, but he also masters dozens of magic spells and can take the form of a bat, a wolf, or mist. While other vampire hunters are merely trying to vanquish evil, Alucard is actually opposing his own flesh and blood. After humans persecuted and killed Alucard’s mother for the relationship she had with Dracula, the dark lord’s heart was filled with hatred. Alucard sympathizes with his father’s viewpoints, but his mother’s guidance allowed him to look past humanity’s ugliness. While siding with humanity, Alucard manages to remain a cold and detached individual without coming across as hapless or self-loathing.