jerome valeska

basics:

age: 24

hair: ginger

eyes: green

height: 5'11"

scars: most notably, the stapled on face. he has a series of scarring around the outside of his face, as his was once cut off to be a mask (long story) and he was forced to staple/stitch/burn it back on. he also has burns on his right hand/wrist/forearm from where his hand was stuck into boiling chicken stock. he has various other cuts and scars, some he remembers and others not so much

canon: most of gotham, or at least the parts i remember. he came back to life again after his last death, and he doesn't know how or why, and he sure as shooting doesn't care!

bio:

tldr: jerome's died like 3 times, and comes back crazier each time. he likes to kill, he likes revenge, and he loves to laugh

'Raised' in the circus by his mother, Lila the Snake Charmer, and Uncle Zachary Trumble who ran the chuck wagon, Jerome quickly learned to fend for himself. Viciously if need be. His mother and uncle were violent and cruel, and Jerome took the brunt of the beatings for his more sensitive twin, Jeremiah. But Jeremiah was sent away after telling everyone how scared he was of Jerome. Not entirely without reason -- Jerome was determined to toughen his twin up, even if meant hurting him. But Jerome maintains that his brother lied, to poison everyone against him. With his twin gone, Jerome spent his ninth birthday alone and the old fortune teller, unbeknownst to him at the time, told him:

This world doesn't care about you, or anyone else, Jerome. Better to realize that now.

Something changed in Jerome that day. Or maybe it just was the last nail in the coffin. Jerome would eventually go on to murder his mother with a hatchet. Caught by the GCPD, he made excellent friends in Arkham. His story was enough to catch the attention of Theo Galvan, who broke him and five others out of Arkham. Jerome was chosen to lead this group, and they called themselves The Maniax. They caused some chaos, murdered more than a few people, including Jerome's real father. Jerome put a hell of a show onstage before he was betrayed by Theo and murdered on stage. But his father's last words seemed to ring true in spite of his death, as people across Gotham began cackling and smiling just like Jerome.

You will be a curse upon Gotham. Children will wake from sleep screaming at the thought of you. Your legacy will be death and madness.

This eventually led to the formation of a cult. How and why Jerome's madness spread throughout the city was unclear, but his followers were devoted, maniacal, and without any moral code. Jerome's body had been stolen from GCPD and brought to Indian Hill, where it underwent several experiments. It was then stolen from there by his cult followers, who attempted to resurrect him. After making promises to bring back their leader and then failing, one follower cut off Jerome's face and wore it as a mask. Unfortunately for him, Jerome then did wake up from the dead. He took back his face, took control of his cult, and once more went seeking revenge. After targeting prominent and affluent members of the community, he was caught and sent back to Arkham. This time, Jerome made brand new friends and bided his time. When the moment was right, he escaped once more and formed a new group. His goal?

I just want to paint the town crazy. Afterwards, I couldn't care less how you horribles tear this town apart.

They unleashed a new wave of chaos and destruction on Gotham, but Jerome's true target this time was his brother. He wanted revenge, he wanted the truth to come out -- and he also wanted to show his brother just how crazy he really was. He made his way through Jeremiah's labyrinth to confront him, and when he finally found his sequestered twin brother, he promised to kill him -- but not before driving him insane. He escaped after that, leaving Jeremiah to live in fear of his brother's words.

"You poisoned everyone I love against me with your lies. What was it again? I threatened you with a cake knife? No. No. No. I tried to burn you alive."

"Ok. So things didn't happen exactly like that. But we both know you wanted to do those things."

Teaming up with other villains, Jerome attempted to unleash an insanity laughing gas on the whole of Gotham. Jerome took over a concert, never able to resist a stage, and once more gave Jeremiah a shot at killing him. But he easily overpowered his twin, and escaped to a rooftop. Cornered and shot, he fell backwards, but managed to hold onto a flagpole. He held his hand out towards the officer that shot him, dared him to be a good guy and rescue Jerome -- but when the officer did, Jerome pulled his hand back and fell to his death with a smile and a laugh. But he left his brother a little gift. A special box filled with the insanity gas, so that his twin could carry on his legacy forevermore.

My days were numbered, but you can continue on for me, be my ultimate revenge!

Now Jerome's woken up again. He's not sure how, or how long it's been, and to be honest, he doesn't really care. He's curious to see if Jeremiah opened his little present. And he wants to bring a little bit more chaos to Gotham. A little more fun. After all...