Carlton Horntavius Butler | |
---|---|
Portrayed By | Chris Rock |
Gender | Male |
Species | Tokola Demon |
Date of Birth | Any Day of the Week |
Age | 35 |
Zodiac Sign | Pimp |
Aliases | Bacchanalia, Horny Butler, Carly Carl |
Place of Birth | Xhosa, South Africa |
Current Location | Los Angeles, CA, USA |
Occupation | Owner and Master of Ceremonies at Caritatas, Stand Up Comedian |
Known Relatives | None That Matter |
Significant Other | The Caritatas Dancers, Hot Women |
Special Powers | Limited Invisibility, Master Impressionist, Almost Shapeshifting |
First Appearance | Jail Bait |
Once a moderately successful stand up comedian, Carlton Horntavius Butler put a hold on his comedic career to step into the shoes of a businessman. As the owner and master of ceremonies of Los Angeles' newest gentledemon's club, Carlton provides the things that go bump in the night with a safe place to party, drink and appreciate the female form: Caritatas.
History
There's a side of South Africa that's very rarely seen. Deep within the hills and forests and underneath the villages there's a small region known as Xhosa. This is where the Tokola demon resides, in all of its population. Of course, they are located throughout the entirety of Africa, but they seem to be centralized in this particular area. Xhosa is also the region where most Tokola demons meet their demise, quite soon after they are born. There is an ancient ritual that the Tokola embody that requires the first born son to fight the father for dominate status within the family.
Somehow, through some crazy twist of fate and luck, Bacchanalia managed to kill his father and rise to the supreme alpha seat in his family. The battle was more fierce than usual. His father was a ruthless murderer that killed for pleasure. Bacchanalia, though, seemed to be more interested in having fun and running his mouth. The latter of which angered his father so much that Bacchanalia managed to get the best of him and run him through with his bone ridge. About a week into his new role as the dominate male had Bacchanalia realizing that this life wasn't for him and he fled Xhosa, turning his back on his mother (who also doubled as his wife) and fled.
The beginning of his travels took him throughout the continent of Africa. He roamed from village to village, living out the dream of a demon with no responsibilities. His life pretty much consisted of fun, sex, drinking, drugs and pretty much anything that seemed to be the complete opposite of "responsible". Careless of his demonic nature, he never really sought to hide himself from the general populace and thus helped to spread the rumor of this African boogeyman myth that was built around the Tokola's existence. Sightings grew more rampant and creatures great and small, human or otherwise, began to hunt him and his kind. Dredging up the old ways of using the parts of Tokola demons for magical reasons. Needless to say, the Tokola, as a whole, were not happy with Bacchanalia bringing down the hell upon their kind and exiled him to the one place where none of them dared to go: the USA.
Caught by his own kind, Bacchanalia was chained up, stuffed in a crate and shipped off towards the United States without a second of hesitation. For better or worse, the ship landed on the coast of California. From there the crate was transferred from place to place until it finally ended up in the City of Angels. It was here that a mistake in shipping caused the crate to be dropped and opened, thus releasing the Tokola within. Lost in the basement of some building, Bacchanalia remained chained up for at least a day before his body started to take on an ability of its own. It twisted and shifted, literally transforming from the dwarfish nature of Tokola demon to something a bit more human in appearance. It is a little known fact that Tokola demons are capable of shapeshifting, though this ability is not "available" to them until they hit puberty.
Bacchanalia was able to slip free of his bonds now that he had become a young, African-American teenager. Of course, the lack of clothing was going to be a problem, but sliding himself into a shelter on the streets assisted with getting him on his feet for a while. He came up with the moniker: Carlton Horntavius Butler, using that to help thrust his 'humanity' into the face of those that he was spending more time around. He found that Los Angeles was a city that kind of embodied everything that he wanted in life. Thus, he sought to immerse himself into the American Culture. After all, humans seemed to be just like him, in their tendency to live for sex, drugs and rock & roll, so to speak.
Carlton spent the next few years of his life on the streets of Los Angeles, observing and learning the way of the Los Angeles American. This, of course, made him very talky about the things he observed. He was already an outspoken individual and being from somewhere else, both demonically and location wise, he found that he had a lot to say and this mouth of his is what would spur him into a career that was all about him running his mouth.
It started with him just being a loud and obnoxious dude on the streets. He would just run off at the mouth about people walking by, insulting them… but making them laugh at the same time. Soon it blossomed into something more when crowds would actually gather to hear him speak. One particular listener, Anderson Lewis, just happened to pass by the unintentional comedian on a regular basis, on his way to his comedy club: The Laugh Track. With people all around him cracking up at this guy, Anderson sought to bring him into the limelight. And soon thereafter, Carlton Horntavius Butler (he had to use his full name, for hilarity sakes) became the pride and joy of The Laugh Track.
Carlton spent over three years as the main event of The Laugh Track. Sure, there were other acts that came and went, but Carlton pledged loyalty to the comedy club, gaining a steady paycheck and a place to call home. In the midst of making people laugh every weekend, Carlton and Anderson became very close friends. Eventually, Anderson moved on to just running the club, while Carlton took his place as the Master of Ceremonies and general "host" of The Laugh Track. It was a good life that involved money, small time fame, women and anything else that he wanted to happen.
The small time fame blossomed a bit, gaining the attention of a small comedic touring group. They stopped through The Laugh Track with an offer that even Carlton couldn't refuse. They were filming a cross country comedy flick called: The Princes of Comedy, highlighting the newest upcoming talent to follow in the footsteps of the amazing Kings of Comedy. While Anderson didn't want to part with his best friend and club host, he didn't want to stand in the way of what could be Carlton's biggest break. With Anderson's blessing, Carlton hopped on the wagon with three other comics: Jamie Dee, Trucky and Boogie Down.
The Princes of Comedy doesn't take off the way everyone thought it would. Instead, it becomes a direct to DVD release entitled: The Royal Family. Which, while a better title, doesn't make that much money and Carlton makes his way back home to the City of Angels. Things have happened while he was on his tour, though. Bad things. The bulk of which being The Laugh Track having caught fire and burning to the ground. Even worse news hit him in the form of Anderson dying in the fire. Not only that, but a new club had opened up across the street, which also catered to both the human and demonic crowds. Not only was it a safe haven, but it had karaoke. Can't beat that.
Immediately, Carlton started to fall into a deep depression. He was ready to turn his back on his "humanity" and comedy all together, but an appearance by Anderson in his dreams convinced him otherwise.
"If you rebuild it… they will come."
Maybe Carlton took this the wrong way, but it was enough of a message to prove that he shouldn't give up. Carlton took the money he had saved, threw with it his earnings from The Royal Family and took control of The Laugh Track's abandoned building. With a little bit of luck and some called in favors, within a year a new "in the know" club had hit the streets. Unlike The Laugh Track, this club took into account the late Anderson's greatest dream, as it turned out to be an upscale gentledemon's club, if you catch the drift here.
As the owner and master of ceremonies of this club, Carlton Horntavius Butler strives to bring himself back into the land of the living, give the karaoke bar some much needed competition and just live his life to the fullest. Hoping to provide a place where humans and demons can co-exist and share the same drunken philosophical fantasies about the female body.
It's a Tokola's life.
Timeline
- Jail Bait: R. Kelly FTW.
Personality
Carlton Horntavius Butler is a man that takes pride in making something of a spectacle of himself. He's loud, somewhat obnoxious, overly sarcastic and definitely always has something to say about anything. In fact, it's actually hard to figure out what he cares about in the grand scheme of things. Which could have something to do with the fact that he doesn't, actually, care about much of anything. But that could have something to do with the fact that he's a demon. A demon that has fallen in love with the human culture and, more often than not, feels that he is, in fact, human. Mentally, though, this is something that he clings to. However, his demonic nature tends to surface on a regular basis and thus keeps him from fully forgetting about his true heritage.
In Carlton's world, all demons and humans are created equal. In fact, they're all the same to him. While some of those that are in his own species seem to be very violent or at least trying to be, Carlton has taken the road where he talks more than anything. It seems to bring about a whole different side of the Tokola demon culture. On a more personal level, Carlton comes across as a bit of a coward. When it comes to confrontations, Carlton is always the first one to try and diffuse the situation with some clever remarks or jokes. Anything that will make him not get his face smashed in by some of the bigger and badder demons (or even humans) that frequent the City of Angels. He's a pacifist.
As a facet of his demonic heritage, combined with his own creepy nature, Carlton seems to be something of a deviant when it comes to his love of the female form. He comes off as a touchy-feely (in a creepy way) kind of person, which is probably one reason that he's opened up a strip club. Not to say that he's obsessed with sex, but that plays a somewhat significant role in his personality, to the point that capitalizing off others enjoyment of such things will fund the lavish and luxurious lifestyle that he's seeking to have. Ironically, as part of his demonic nature, Carlton finds himself vastly attached to children. In a drastically different manner than his other obsessions, the Tokola demons look to children as partners in mischievous crime and other child-like wonder. More often than not, when a child has an imaginary friend, it's a Tokola demon.
Fight against it he might, but it's very hard for Carlton to not succumb to his demonic heritage. He doesn't have the luxury of being a half-demon and thus has to deal with the constant bodily needs and urges to be in his true form. Or at the very least, react to those primal urges that well up within him from time to time, on a frequent basis. This is something that he struggles with and, at some point, may make him a crazy person/demon. But until then he's going to have to wrestle with his love for humanity and his biological connection to his true self.
Demonic Traits
You Can't See Me: Tokola demons are capable of turning themselves invisible with the assistance of small rocks from the African region of Xhosa, located in South Africa. These particular pebbles are solely used for this purpose and only seem to work with the Tokola demon species. In order to become invisbile, the Tokola demon must hold the pebble in his mouth. The down side to his invisibility is that children (under the age of 13), magic-users and other demons can all see through the invisibility as if it were never even activated. The invisibility lasts for as long as the pebble is in his mouth. The moment it leaves his lips, he becomes visible to all. Also, he is incapable of eating, drinking or speaking with the pebble in his mouth.
De-Mon and the Bastards of the Whedonverse: In addition to the Human form that he is capable of transforming into, this Tokola demon is blessed with his demonic form. This form allows him to shrink down to about the size of a dwarf, where he becomes a hairy and supernaturally strong creature that could very well be measured as a bit stronger than the average vampire. As far as natural weaponry goes, there's a large ridge on the top of his head, which looks more like a horn than anything, but this is made of damn near unbreakable bone and can be used to run enemies through. Unfortunately, his demonic form comes with some downsides, also, as he's unable to climb in this form. Which means that anything over three feet tall is unreachable by the dwarfish demon. He's not a good jumper or anything like that, so it's much like he's a really strong child.
Sounds Like: Unlike some Tokola demons, Carlton didn't get the genetic manipulation trait, therefore he can't actively shapeshift into different forms, other than the human form that he morphed into during his pubescent stage. He did, however, come into a highly supernatural voice replication ability that allows him to perform exact reproductions of voices. With this ability, he is a master impressionist and can even mimic a large amount of sound effects and the like. This tends to add a whole new dimension to his stand up comedy. This is due to his demonic vocal chords not having the limits that humans do.
Shift Happens: This is not an ability that Carlton can actually control. However, it is of myth and legend that Tokola demons are often seen in different ways, depending on whom the demon is interacting with at the time. This isn't true shapeshifting, as it is actually an empathic illusion created in and by the mind of the person that has fallen into conversation with the Tokola demon. This doesn't happen in a trivial, every day manner. The person has to truly believe that they are talking to someone they can trust or they have to be attracted to him in some way or form. Should that happen, the demon could have the appearance of family, friends, the family pet… anything that the unintentional target feels comfortable talking to. Carlton uses this to his advantage as often as possible by finding out secrets, hidden truths and addresses to females abodes. For the record, this isn't a trivial every day occurrence. It's very situation dependent, as its activation/success could range from someone really needing to get something off their chest to even someone being naive and super trusting. Results will vary from person to person and their own particular situation.
- Note: This power is strictly and heavily consensual, as it is based on the opposing player's want for their character to see Carlton as someone else. Carlton has no control over this ability and therefore cannot shapeshift. It is a mental illusion based on PC's IC trust of Carlton.
Bruce Banished: While Tokola demons are native to this dimension of Earth, they are still capable of being banished. Most exorcists, magic users or witch doctors are familiar with such rituals and just about any of them will work, provided that the demon is within the vicinity of the ritual being cast. Once exorcised or banished, the Tokola demon is sent to a hell dimension and the human form that it created no longer exists, leaving nothing but a stain of what it was once behind. The possibility for the Tokola demon to return to this dimension is heavily reliant on the traces of his banishment no longer lingering, otherwise he'll find himself blocked from crossing the threshold.
Flesh Wounds: When in human form, the Tokola demon is unable to access any of his demonic strength and durability. Which makes him very easy to kill. As a human, he is human and capable of suffering the same physical pain and methods of destruction that humans face. He needs to breathe, eat and sleep… that whole nine yards. Carlton's specific human form is not exactly the most muscular or anything of that nature, so he comes off as a bit more frail than the average human. Which makes it even easier for him to be broken.
Carly Carl Loves The Kids: Tokola demons have an exploitable love for children that cannot be denied. Originally perceived as creatures that would use them for more nefarious deeds, it has become apparent that the Tokola demon actually cares more about children (of any species) than they do anything else… including their own lives. It has something to do with the fact that they can be seen by those that are young and have been known to play the role of "imaginary friend". Tokola demons are, after all, an extension of classic Boogeyman tale. This makes the Tokola demon, in human or demon form, susceptible to children and their whims.
Voo Don't: Tokola demons are very weak against witch doctors and the like-minded. It has a lot to do with the fact that when someone of a magical nature has a lock of the demon's hair in their possession they can perform a ritual that will make the demon, in essence, their minion. A Tokola demon is forced to serve those that perform the ritual with their hair and is a servant of them until the lock of hair is destroyed… or someone else performs the ritual in a more recent capacity. The hair that is needed, though, must be from the Tokola's demonic form. His human hair will do nothing in the ritual.
Hunted: It happens to be a well known fact that Tokola demons are hunted for their flesh. This is mostly by witch doctors and the like, but a magical repellant can be created with the use of the dead Tokola demon. A repellant that can be applied to the skin and is known to keep the Tokola demons away. This repellant can also be used to stop these demons from entering places/buildings. This substance can also be used to paralyze the demon and make it easier to slay. All in all, things can be done with the flesh of the Tokola demon, if you're supernaturally inclined.
Aquademon: The Tokola demons are heavily related to the classic "water sprite" mythos, which means that Carlton must submerge himself in water on a daily basis or he'll start to lose his connection to the reality of this dimension. During the connection loss process, his body will start to break down and he'll lose his ability to shift between Human and Demon forms, in addition to his demonic abilities tapering off and eventually ceasing to work. After about a week of no water contact, at all, the Tokola demon will simply die.
Quotes
- "… and another thing that pisses me off is how STUPID America is! That's right, I said it! And I'll say it again. America. Is. STUPID! How is that we're the most POWERFUL country in the world, right? We spend billions and billions of dollars throwin' monkeys and people and @*&#@ into space! We clonin' sheep! We findin' weapons of mass destruction! We're doin' everything we possibly can to be the best! Hell, we got people jumpin' borders to come live here! But there's one thing we can't do. One problem we can't seem to solve. ONE. LITTLE. THING. And you know what that is? You know what we're too stupid to figure out?! We can't do a simple thing like add TWO MORE BUNS in a hot dog buns pack! That's right! Hot dogs come in packages of eight! Hot dog buns? Packages of six! What the HELL am I gonna' do with six buns and I got eight hot dogs! I ain't just throwin' away these last two dogs! This pack cost me 2 dollars and 99 cents! I want my last two hot dogs! Somebody! Somewhere! PLEASE! Get me some buns! And while you're at it? MAKE THE BUNS FIT THE HOT DOGS! They plump when you cook 'em! So don't give me no little ass bread! I want the big bread! I don't wanna' have to use subway sandwich bread just to eat a hot dog! Come on, now! Work with me!"