The Grinning Man

Basic Stats
Species: Manifest

Height: 7ft10

Weight: Practically nothing

Age: Timeless

Appearance
The Grinning Man, as the name suggests, most distinctively has an external jaw fixed into a large grin. Also notable are his 'default' eyes, which trail a smoke-like energy, and his very gaunt, almost skin-and-bones figure.

'Grin' has no need to open his mouth to talk; naturally he does need to open it to eat, and also to allow himself to 'smell' prey with his tongue, not unlike a snake. As the mouth's expression is fixed, not much can be told from it - when angry, the Grinning Man expresses such through the spontaneous development of several small additional eyes on his face. Unlike his usual pair of eyes, these do not trail a 'flame' and are set within their sockets.

As with most manifest of human fear, the Grinning Man is humanoid, yet with a radically changed and exagerrated body shape. He is extremely emaciated, to the point where nearly all his bones are visible, and the proportions of his arms and legs are over-long and over-short, respectively.

The Grinning Man has been known to wear suits, or to have what looks like one painted on his body.

Shapeshifting
The Grinning Man's shapeshifting theme is 'mechanical', in stark contrast to his fondness for the natural world. The skeleton his skin hangs on is robotic, and his preferred method of attack is to form a long pipe for a tail and shoot filth at the opposition. This is usually accompanied by several gears and levers sprouting from his back - while they are there, their movements correspond to his, which become stiffer and more erratic.

Grin also has 'skins' he has collected, which allow him to take the form of another creature for as long as the night lasts. This form will not be accurate, however, with an eerie, impossibly wide grin and a shifting, dreamlike appearance.

Behaviour
Naturally inquisitive, the Grinning Man is always alert and attentive, on the look-out for prey or power. He has little to no understanding of personal space - or chooses to ignore it - and, although his speech is always politely conversational, he frequently makes sudden non-sequiturs, often referring to a family he doesn't have or making veiled threats. This is similar to a quirk of Uncle Cliché's, who refers to people as "his naughty children" when particularly enraged. The Grinning Man is very proud of his past, and seriously commited to regaining his throne. Although quite calculating in this aspect, logic is not one of his strong points and he is, by human standards, unintelligent - but in the mental realm, this tends to matter little.

The Story
Aeons ago, the Grinning Man was once the Smiling King, ruler of the fear kingdom and the Pit in the mental realm. Beneath him was appointed a manifest called Filthwing, an entity of disgust, to help rule the complex, lawless maze that was the Pit.

Filthwing was grateful for the position, but otherwise none-too-pleased with his monarch. Through entangled conspiracies with many of the manifest he ruled over - and a fortunate deal with an exiled Northern manifest - he eventually gathered a small army and enough personal power to take the Smiling King by surprise and overthrow him, reducing the king to the lowly Grinning Man and raising himself to the name Redwing.

The Grinning Man has since then clawed his way up from a near-mindless, drained weakling to a manifest of some small standing. Redwing keeps him on a slackened leash, still believing him to be incapable of challenging his strength. Grin lives in hope of the day when he can do as Filthwing once did and overthrow the tyrant with an unexpected strike.