Death-Head's Deal FAQ

You're correct; a hitman job would have been acceptable, especially for an elite Death-Head like Yomi. While hitman jobs and such are regulated and overseen so that the organization doesn't just fall into a chaotic murder rampage (and doesn't attract unstable and genuinely dangerous people, who want to find a legal way to do illegal things), these cases are more open for elites.

Since Yomi and the other Central Death-Heads (I think there might be 4 of them in total) work right under Kahamet's command - and he has underlined that he created Lywood's Death-Heads and it is a law if he says so - they have more freedom. Sure, they are also a lot more expensive and thus more dangerous to hire. They generally operate in shady things like in politics and such, so I assume that whoever wants Kizzie to be gone is extremely desperate, very rich or very influential person in the society. That's because Elite Central Death-Heads aren't available for hiring just for anyone.

Oh no, there's no time line for how long they need to keep the mask on. When Pearl sees Grimm for the first time without his mask, she notes to herself that Grimm renewed his mask 3 months ago for their wedding day.

The mask can be renewed as often as the Death-Head themselves like. Even weekly, if they wish (and I imagine can afford it - the paint has to be pretty expensive and I don't think the organization provides their employees with more than a certain amount of face paint and soaps per year - if at all).

Masks are regional and chance based on the faction. They have a base concept which can be edited slightly, like Joon in the East Faction has done by messing his mask's lines. Death-Heads recognize each others' factions from their masks, and also foreign Death-Heads outside their own city.

What is mandatory in each mask is black and white color, and black painted upper lip with 4 upward stripes. Whether the Death-Head wants to paint also their lower lip back is up to them. Joon (East) and Algoth (North) have done this.

SOUTH FACTION MASK A crescent shape on the out corner, running diagonally. Connects with the eyebrow paint. The eyebrow runs long and almost connects with the outer eye corner mask. Plague's mask shows his eyebrow but I don't know yet if the narrow line on the upper eye lid is mandatory or Plague's own small adjustment (which is allowed).

EAST FACTION MASK East mask is round around the eyes and doesn't connect with eyebrows. The shape chances based on expressions rather easily and follows face & eye shape. Sometimes I do stylished heart-shape corners to the outer side of the eye mask. As long as the shape is round around the eyes = OK! (Exception is Dio, who wears his prior faction North's mask)

WEST FACTION MASK West mask is rather similar to East mask but geometrical. The corners of the eye are triangle shaped and the eye mask doesn't connect with eyebrows. Upper and lower lines of the eye mask are straight. I don't have better image of the West mask yet.

NORTH FACTION MASK North mask's corner of the eye curve upward. The eye masks connects with the eyebrow and the eyebrow curves down towards the outer eye corner. The eyebrow arch's curve differs a bit when I draw it but as long as the eyebrow curves down and the outer eye corner curves up, it's OK! (exception is Algoth, who has adjusted his mask so that his eyebrows go straight up. It's bit too big edit and probably wouldn't be accepted but for some reason, Algoth has allowed to pull it off. I assume it's Grimm's personal permission).

Death-Heads can take people as payments if it fits the deal they have accomplished. Ama's dislike for what Plague has done with Cure is because she and her twin sister Awa run West Faction. West is dedicated for high demand, quality deals and they are also reflecting this to the payments they can collect. You could say that the West differs a bit from how Death-Heads normally operate, and this is (most likely) due Ama and Awa branding the West Faction to its current form. Assumingly, Ama and Awa also keep their eyes very keenly on the payments their Death-Heads collect so that they don't violate the West side brand.

I'm starting to think that Lywood has divided into following suburbs: West = the richest luxury area Central = expensive area East = very good, common area North = cheaper, a bit shady area South = the cheapest and the most restless area

The areas aren't tightly divided except by Death-Head factions, so I assume there are "liminal space" areas, where middle class lives - like in the border of south and west, and some areas in north.

So Ama frowning about Plague's payment is only Ama's thing and the West thing.

Think West Faction as a luxury Death-Head Faction.

Character Sheets - Dio

I’m a bit surprised that Dio is brown but I like it :3

Dio

Dio is the 2nd in command in the East Faction, being Rena’s trusted hand.

He and Rena go to the same gym, sometimes training together.

He doesn’t speak much, especially if he doesn’t know you well.

Originally Dio served in the North Faction under Grimm’s command but applied for a transfer to east due family reasons.

Because of his roots in the North, he asked for a special permission to keep his North Faction face paint. Rena approved this.

Dio has got the boots I owned when I was 19 (with some minor tweaks).

Before I drew Dio, I knew there was a big man, maybe a lizard, serving in the East and that his name is Dio. He is the only character who had a name first and looks later.

Character Sheet - Joon & Miranda

I’ve been busy drawing character sheets for DHD (so many still missing….!)

Rest of the sheets can be found either from my blog tagged as #DHD_character_sheets or from @dhdfaq​

JOON

Joon is one of the youngest Death-Heads in East Faction

He uses honorifics based on South Finnish dialect like broidi (brother)

He’s got an older sister and a niece called Viv. He babysits Viv at times.

Joon is on some kind of a medication but I don’t know yet what it is.

He is a heavy smoker.

After each successful gig Joon cuts a scar on his left arm, because he wants to keep his work closest to his heart.

On his right arm, Joon makes a cut whenever he beds a new woman.

His relationship with Miranda is open. They are dedicated for each other but can come and go with others if wished.

After a work well done, he visits the strip club where Miranda works. He’s well known there and always wants to get to know all new employees.

Joon is a big supporter for women’s rights (most likely due Miranda’s influence and education)

As Miranda is considered Joon’s family member, he can’t take Miranda as his client.

MIRANDA

Miranda has promised to Joon that she would never make a deal with a Death-Head but if she must, she should go to Alrick and only to Alrick.

Miranda is an equal bread winner in their shared household with Joon. She likes her job and has considered adult industry work, too.

Miranda does not wear any jewellery nor she has any piercings.

Her mother is a hairdresser and own her own salon.

Miranda uses in her speech pattern different quirks, which are marked with emojis and other special marks like  ~ * etc.

Miranda lives with Joon and often paints his mask when it needs to be redone.

Aaa thank you!! QoQ Positive feedback is something I cherish so much.

DHD updates usually once a month but I don't have any set update dates. Whenever I can draw the next update, it will be out.

There are two ways to track the updates and be informed immediately when the newest update is out:

Subscribe to Death-Head's Deal on Webtoons. Join our Death-Head's Deal Fan Club over on Discord where we have an Announcement channel. I will send an update alert to everyone who has it turned on whenever a new comic is out. I link both Webtoon's and Tumblr's update links there.

I have mentioned this pretty often but I get to decide maybe 5% of what happens. Everything else is improvised and run by the characters. I'm only one step ahead of you guys in a way that I can draw the comic, and even when drawing I have only a vague idea what's been spoken/what's going on. Sometimes I have to typeset panels I've already drawn to see what the characters are talking about, so that I can tell what I should draw next.

I don't plan. I don't script. I don't design. I don't do storyboards. I sit down and start to draw and see what happens.

Here are some things from Death-Head's Deal that are NOT my ideas but the story/characters decided these themselves:

Vanessa was supposed to be hyena. She wanted to be a leopard called Vanessa.

Grimm was supposed to be a lizard like black monster type, while Pearl was his assistant. Nope, Pearl is an office worker at the HQ and Grimm is a half-face cat working as North's leader, and they’re married. The moment Pearl sees Grimm in the comic is the moment I saw Grimm for the first time, too.

Dinky Sugar was supposed to be just a side character changing a few lines with Joon.

In the same story, Miranda was supposed to be the bad girl, breaking Joon's heart. But nope, Joon told me they're happily together and live under the same roof. I expected they had just met recently, like a few months ago.

Speaking of Joon, I didn't design him. I kept seeing in my head a scene were a woman is speaking with a half-face rabbit man from the East faction, but that man wasn't Alrick. I went "Ok, now, who are you?"

I've decided names only for a few characters; Grimm, Kibibi, Cadao, Metin, Aditi, and Pearl's & Alyssee’s surnames. Everyone else in DHD has named themselves, meaning that the name immediately comes to me or some other character reveals it (like Joon introduced Viv and Miranda to me. I would have never named anyone as Viv or Miranda!).

Talking about names, I knew that Death-Head men named Dio and Joon exist in the DHD world before I knew how they looked like.

West Faction leader and assistant introduced themselves to me just last week.

I don't like to draw stories with children or families, those are my least favorite tropes I avoid like plague if I can, yet we have Cat & Hagon with 4 kids and Joon babysitting Viv. If I get to decide, no one had kids.

Loid just revealed last night how he and Pearl know each other, and told me what his role and place in the DH world actually is. I had been wondering where Pearl and Loid knew each other from, and if Loid was going to stay or just pop in for a short visit.

ALL that has been revealed about the DHD world, their work, paymets and how Lywood is.

Factions having their own facial paint styles.

Dio being formerly in North under Grimm’s command.

Hagon being sick, being a home dad.

Alrick introduced Lou-Lou to me completely.

Kahamet appeared to me in a dream many, many years prior to Death-Head’s Deal.

Vanilla having some shady businesses going on and her targeting Alrick.

Just A FEW to mention.

I've said that I feel that I can't really take a full credit for Death-Head's Deal (nor for any other creations of mine) as I don't "make" them. They come to me.

Races in this world appear randomly (don’t ask how or why!). You can be born into three types: - Animal eared/tailed/horned race like Rodin or Joon - Animal anthro type like Rena or Cat - “Monster” type, who is more or less a mixture of multiple different traits, like Alrick (a mild case), CEO Jaguar (a normal case) and Hagon (a somewhat severe case).

As a parent, your baby can be anything out of these and any animal type. I’d assume everyone lives pretty much similarly with similar needs despite their differences in their appearances.

People who have a human face but (usually) a double set of ears are called Half-Face. They are a minority compared to the animal faced people but the difference between them isn’t big. The smallest minority are the mutations, like Hagon.

While “monsters” live in the Lywood, no one has magical powers etc. Everyone’s just like humans are. 

The general population is afraid of Death-Heads, mainly due to their random deal payment requests. Contacting them for a deal is considered as the last resort. There’s no limit for what you can ask from a Death-Head. 

The society is Scandinavian in a sense that everyone is taken care of with social benefits collected from taxes.

Death-Head HQ gets governmental funding but they also have other sources of income (see story 3 and 6).

Death-Heads aren’t mercenaries but earn a monthly salary from the HQ, on top of whatever they have collected as payment(s).

Law enforcement and police do exist alongside the Death-Heads. Sometimes it’s the fastes way to go for a Death-Head when you need help, as Death-Heads can skip procedures and find loopholes (which are legal to only them).

Death-Heads are supervised and officially accepted by the government. Some of the Death-Heads’ deals require reports to the government, like cases of euthanasia or other kills.

In a case of a serious deal, like an euthanasia, a death-head needs a permission from their supervisor (the faction boss) to proceed. This is to prevent any unnecessary hitman jobs and people getting each other killed just like that. If the fraction boss says no, then there won’t be a deal.

Nothing is off-limits from deals. A Death-Head can refuse a deal or recommend a colleague for the job - but they can’t constantly refuse a deal request or the HQ will be upset with it.

Hitman jobs are always checked before agreeing, so blatant “I want you to kill my neighbor because he mows the lawn every single day in summer and keeps me awake with that noise”-nonsense murders aren’t accepted. You want someone dead? You better have a solid proof and excuse for that. This is, again, to make sure that the society doesn’t fall into a chaos. OF COURSE, having said that, high profile persons probably get murders ordered just because they want that, just like in real life. If I want to get someone killed = nope. If a president wants someone to be killed by a secret service = done.

A client can withdraw a deal if it hasn’t been fulfilled yet, but if the Death-Head has done their part from the deal, the client must pay.

If the client refuses to pay, the Death-Head must deliver them a notice of refusal, either playing the official refusal audio or reach the client by mail. If the client still refuses to pay after the official warning notice, the Death-Head in question can deal with the issue however they want. You make a deal, you respect it. Period.

All Death-Head Deals must be paid by a random request from the hired Death-Head. The Death-Head in question will ask for the payment only after the job from the Death-Head’s end has been done. The requests can be anything from a handshake to the life of someone, as long as it matches the size of the deal. For example, if someone asks for a new car from their deal but the Death-Head collects a payment that is too much (like their house in return), this is illegal.

Death-Head factions as well as the HQ supervise the deals so no one can collect too much. There’s no minimum requirements for the payment. It can be as simple as one pebble. The Death-Head in the question decides.

If the client of a Death-Head feels that they have been collected an unjust payment, they must file a report to the faction boss or to the HQ. If the Death-Head has collected too much, the faction boss or the HQ will deal with it.

For the payment, the Death-Head can use their own morals and ethics. Not everyone is the same in Death-Heads.

Death-Heads are not to misuse their rights, for example threaten the headmaster of a top university to get their child in. Misuse of their rights leads to an investigation from the HQ. There are always consequences.

The screening for the work is tight to avoid any unstable persons to join the ranks. However, if someone slipped through it and they start to kill for a joy (or as ridiculous payments, like body parts), there will be consequences. Death-Heads are not above the law if they violate Death-Head rules.

The HQ has office workers. They are not Death-Heads and won’t make deals. They won’t wear masks either and will wear formal office outfits. 

The HQ workers will not be associated with the Death-Heads and the HQ unless they specifically state that they’re working there. They’re not as feared as Death-Heads (think about an office worker VS a commando in a military).

No one is above a deal. Anyone can get a deal or fall into a deal target, except a fellow Death-Head.

No, you can’t hire another Death-Head to save your ass if you know for certain that you’re a deal target. Death-Heads don’t meddle with each others’ work. Whoever gets first - the Death-Head hunting or the Death-Head protecting - will be the Death-Head to complete the deal. 

Death-Heads don’t do permanent bodyguard jobs as they work for individual deals,  so if you are in need of protection 24/7 for a long period of time, you will need a bodyguard.

I don’t know yet how the organization came to be and possibly we might never know it.

No one in their sane mind would pose as a Death-Head. The local faction would hear about it and deal with the imposter with serious consequences. This is equal to real-life situations in Japan, where no sane person goes to rob companies which are in the areas owned by yakuza, or pretend to be one of the mafia members, as the mafia will hear about it and deal with the person for good.

If a deal can’t be completed due to circumstances, the payment won’t be collected as the client didn’t get their deal (compare to how a doctor tries to save their patient’s life but can’t do it, no matter how hard the doctor tries. It’s no one’s fault)

People can be asked for payments if the deal matches this request.

If you are a target of a deal, well, too bad for you. There’s no escaping. For escaping targets, the HQ will help to find them. There’s no escape if you’re the deal target.

If you kill a Death-Head who is after you to kill you, you will be sentenced for a murder. Also, you will also get the whole DH organization from the HQ and the faction who was the killed Death-Head’s home faction after you.

If a target is asked to be killed and approved by the faction boss or in important cases by the HQ, think it as a legally approved execution.

If Death-Head is killed, injured or dies during a deal, the faction of the said Death-Head will complete the deal. Again, think about a doctor who is treating you and passes away. You will be just transferred to another doctor within the same hospital.

If the Death-Head of the on-going deal is killed, injured or dies during the deal, the payment it being collected either by the faction boss for the benefit of the whole faction or by the HQ if the case is important.

I don’t think a deal target can get a deal from a Death-Head to save their ass, as Death-Heads don’t sabotage each others’ work or intervene with the deals unless requested or assigned to do so.

Of course, not every single case is a murder or killing. It can be torturing, black mailing, giving something, doing something etc. 

Clients can ask any kind of deals from Death-Heads. Bigger, more complicated deals are regulated more heavily than easier stuff, for example Give Me Money Please VS Help Me To Cheat in a Political Campaign.

The deals go on until they’re finished, though clients can request a certain deadline. It’s the Death-Head’s job to do their best to meet the deadline.

Death-Head organization does charity work, like annual Death-Head Auction. Death-Heads are supposed to donate either part of their earnings or something worthy for the auction. I think majority are asked for money as otherwise there would be too many auction items.

Faction areas also do charity work within their own territory, like East helping East, West helping West etc.