Aaaaand SFW version of this OC too!
It took a while, but I managed to also come up with an interesting background and species lore for this one, longer than those I wrote for other characters so far!

Character info:

Cédric, as many of his kind, lives like a “ghost” amidst the rest of the society: he works, eats and even pays taxes (well, most of the time) like the others, yet he technically does not exist because he has no citizenship and his name doesn’t appear in any registry office. This is bad news when you need any kind of state provided services or have to go through bureaucracy… but it can also have its perks when you know how to use this situation to your advantage.

The events concerning his childhood are hard to know, and probably all irrelevant up until he was found and captured by a noble French guy who was very much into big game hunting. You see, this French gentleman had a kind of… twisted sense of sports and competition. He saw potential in the Cockatrice and desired to own him as a “pet” to expand his existing collection of exotic and dangerous animals, giving him the joke name of “Cédric du Coq”. He was naturally more intelligent than the other beasts and so his master was proud to teach him things like languages and math, albeit just to impress his friends and like-minded guests. But soon it would be clear that he had even bigger and darker ambitions in store for him, as he saw Cédric being more suited for blood sports…

Once big and strong enough, he was introduced to illegal boxing and much to the glory of his owner, the Cockatrice quickly became a notorious opponent on the ring, brutally winning match after match. But when dealing with the underground, you should know when not to screw up… and that if you kill your opponent during a rigged match, you’re in big trouble… Therefore, his master was quickly kidnapped and disposed of, but Cédric managed to escape. Being very smart, he turned himself in to the police, knowing that without an identity he technically couldn’t be brought into court and even sharing valuable information about that underground organization in exchange for protection. And so, after some time, he was finally free… a nobody, but free.

Cédric eventually used his street smarts to blend in with society, and now alternates honest working with minor illegal activities that allow him to not get too much attention but still be aware of the crime life going on around him, as well as getting what he needs. Unable to legally own anything, he got creative and managed to renovate an abandoned building to run a night club, properly named “The Cock-a-doodle-doo”, where you can get almost any item or service for the right price and if you know the right person…

Species info:

Cataloguing the many different species of Enchanted across the world is not an easy task and sometimes it’s just not very clear how to define some creatures. This is usually due to lack of data… but other times it’s just very controversial where to draw the line between monster or Enchanted, as it is for the Cockatrices for example.

They are rare and most of them live primitive lives in the wild lands at best, and there seems to be no “cockatrice culture”, history or language too. Those who managed to get civilized simply learn the local language and mimic the habits of the locals; so many argue that, despite definitely being sentient and intelligent creatures, Cockatrices act only in their best interest for survival and rely too much on instinct to not be considered “wild animals”. Additionally, Cockatrices possess a very dangerous secretion produced by their sharp claws and talons, which when in contact with blood triggers an accelerated clotting reaction, that can in turn quickly spread inside the veins of the victim, eventually leading to tissue necrosis or even death if not treated quickly. A dangerous ability, more akin to a beast rather than a respectful citizen… and finally, there isn’t enough evidence of them not being hybrid creatures instead, as the few DNA analysis available suggest that they are closely related to Basilisks and Tengus. An hypothesis strongly rejected by Tengus, since they fail to recognize Cockatrices as “people” and it would imply that they share a common ancestry, or even worse, that some of their kind have a thing for bestiality with Basilisks.

Anyway, not being recognized as an “official” species means trouble for those Cockatrices who wish to integrate into society, as they usually can’t fit the criteria get a citizenship, or worse, they have no rights. Some Countries have forced them to undergo nasty surgery to get the claws and talons removed in order to apply for citizenship. In other cases, they are labelled as monsters and banned from any town, if not even shot on sight. And unfortunately this is likely to remain a non-issue for most people around the world because there are so few of them, that there isn’t much awareness about this problem.

Artwork by iggi