- "One man? One man did all this?"
- — Kenspeckle Grouse, Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Coil
Tesseract | |
Character Information | |
Taken Name | Tesseract |
Species | Human |
Gender | Male |
Birth | 1611-1711 |
Age | 300-400 |
Death | January 1, 2012 |
Magic | Bonebreaker |
Location | Deceased |
Tesseract is a mysterious Russian assassin, known for being extremely dangerous.
He is encountered by Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain when he is hired by the Torment to kill Davina Marr in 2011, and shortly afterwards becomes the vessel for the lead Remnant during their outbreak.
Appearance[]
Tesseract is a large, muscular man with red eyes, and normally wears boots and a dusty black coat. He suffers from a form of organic rot known as liquefactive necrosis, which causes his face to rot and take a changing, lumpy appearance. To treat this, Tesseract wears metal masks with needles that inject a special fluid into his face to keep his disease at bay. He likes to change this mask at the start of each day, usually opting for expressionless ones, though occasionally he will feel like picking something with more emotion, such as a scowl.
Personality[]
Tesseract is a stoic, focused, and practical individual, devoting himself entirely to the job at hand. He does not kill if it isn't necessary to his mission, preferring not to do "freebies", but he shows no remorse at killing those who get in his way. Nevertheless, he does not look down on his enemies, and as a rule never underestimates them. He likes to be on a first-name basis with them, and likes to grant their dying wishes if it isn't inconvenient for him. Despite his extreme determination, Tesseract has enough sense to know when he is beaten, and to acknowledge when he has made mistakes.
Tesseract is not above holding grudges, and is disappointed when he does not get the opportunity to settle them, but he is above all a professional, and does not indulge in revenge if it is irrelevant to his duty. The exception to this is when he is double-crossed by his employers, whereupon Tesseract will relentlessly hunt them down, taking risks to kill them that he would not otherwise take. Tesseract himself is not above a little foul play, once stabbing a man who died of a heart attack in order to claim his payment.
Far from devoid of humanity, Tesseract simply sees his profession as his life, and has no regrets. He longs to feel the sun on his face without wearing a mask, and cares for his cat, though he sees no reason to give it a name. As his name implies, Tesseract is thoughtful, despite his practicality; for example, when he is buried alive, he wonders what archaeologists would think of him if they discovered his body in the future, and as he dies, he discusses the merits of living with Skulduggery. He is even capable of disarming Skulduggery himself with his line of thought, correctly deducing a secret relationship between the latter and Lord Vile. Though Skulduggery snarkily denounces Tesseract as "chatty", Tesseract prefers not to talk while on the job.
Biography[]
Tesseract was born and raised in Russia sometime between 1611 and 1711. His life is a mystery, and not even China Sorrows is able to uncover any significant information about him. It is known, however, that he owns a cat, and while carrying out jobs, he travels around in a truck. He also suffers from liquefactive necrosis, which was weaponised by Mevolent in the 300 Year War, though it is unknown how he became infected with it.
In December 2011, Tesseract is hired by the Torment to kill Davina Marr. Knowing that Marr would need the aid of Ephraim Tungsten to leave Ireland, Tesseract tracks down Tungsten's friends, and slaughters them when they cannot give him Tungsten's location. However, he spares Ranajay after Ranajay tells him where Marr's safehouses are. Tesseract then ambushes Marr in a construction site, but is prevented from killing her by Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain, who take Marr into custody.
With no way of finding Marr directly, Tesseract instead focuses his sights onto Skulduggery. He attends an auction held by Vaurien Scapegrace to learn the location of Skulduggery's house, threatening the latter until he is confronted by Hieronymus Deadfall's group of Roarhaven mages. Tesseract kills all six, at which point he is given the location by the terrified Scapegrace.
Tesseract infiltrates Skulduggery's house. As luck would have it, Skulduggery takes Marr to his house for interrogation, unknowingly bringing her right to Tesseract. Tesseract single-handedly defeats Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Tanith Low, and Erskine Ravel, and succeeds in killing Marr, but is prevented from finishing off the others by the arrival of Ghastly Bespoke and Fletcher Renn.
Tesseract returns to the Torment to collect payment, only to learn that the Torment wants him dead for killing Deadfall and the other Roarhaven citizens. Madame Mist poisons Tesseract, and Ceryen and Graft bury him alive. He survives and frees himself, and resolves to take revenge. He successfully kills Ceryen and Graft before confronting the Torment, Mist, Syc, and Portia, but their combined might proves to be too much for Tesseract, and he is overwhelmed. Before he can be killed, a swarm of Remnants arrives, led by the lead Remnant in the body of Anton Shudder. Tesseract breaks Shudder's arm, and the Remnant responds by possessing him instead.
Leading the Remnants, Tesseract is present at the attacks on Ghastly's shop and Kenspeckle Grouse's laboratory. He orders a possessed Fletcher not to kill Valkyrie's family, arguing that she needs to become Darquesse naturally. However, Tesseract later concedes that Valkyrie may need to be possessed by a Remnant to become Darquesse, and allows Fletcher's Remnant to possess her, causing Darquesse to emerge. When Darquesse begins slaughtering the Remnants, Tesseract stops those who try to run away from their "saviour", believing that Darquesse is simply warming up. Darquesse prepares to kill him, but is interrupted by the arrival of Skulduggery and Tanith. When the Receptacle is activated, Tesseract is rid of the Remnant.
Several days later on January 1, Tesseract tries again to kill the Torment, this time succeeding. However, he is attacked once more by Skulduggery, and the two fight until Lord Vile arrives and mortally wounds Tesseract. Skulduggery helps Tesseract outside so that he can see the sunrise, and Tesseract dies trying to smile.
In 2013, Tesseract's ghost is among many that appears to Skulduggery in the Necropolis. It is unclear whether this is a manifestation of some sort, or whether it is Tesseract himself.
By 2019, Skulduggery and Valkyrie have become aware that Tesseract suffered from liquefactive necrosis. Whether Skulduggery deduced this from seeing Tesseract without his mask, or whether Tesseract was given an autopsy, remains unknown.
Magic and abilities[]
Tesseract is an Adept, specifically a rare type of mage known as a Bonebreaker. He has the ability to break an individual's bones by touching his fingertips to their body, which instantly shatters the nearby bones, and will shatter the entire skeleton if Tesseract maintains contact for long enough. Though this aids Tesseract in combat, its use in this regard is limited, as Tesseract can only use it through his fingertips and it does not work through reinforced clothing. Tesseract instead uses his magic as his primary method of assassination, relying on the shattering bones to pierce his target's brain and heart. This ability also makes Tesseract a great threat to Skulduggery Pleasant.
Because Tesseract's magic is close-quarters, he does not use firearms in the elimination of his targets, though he has been known to take advantage of guns he procures in combat. Instead, he relies on his skills as a physical combatant, which are almost unmatched; on one occasion, he single-handedly defeated four skilled fighters in combat, and on another, he killed six Roarhaven mages with ease. His speed, strength, and stealth are all considerable, as is his pain tolerance and ability to throw knives, but his true talent is his ability to improvise and adapt to any situation, using his surroundings to his advantage. He is not beyond making mistakes, but he is quick-witted enough to compensate for them before they become a problem.
Tesseract's proficiency as an assassin is not derived purely from his skills as a combatant. He is more than capable of dismantling security systems, both magical and technological, and in infiltrating fortified locations. Once inside, he is able to wait for the perfect time to strike, even if this takes hours or even days. A highly skilled tracker, Tesseract is also an expert at gathering information on his targets and on anyone else he is likely to encounter, and is capable of applying this knowledge to the situation at hand; for example, upon learning that Tanith Low had woken up, he was instantly able to deduce that she had called for reinforcements, and correctly anticipated an attack by Ghastly Bespoke. Additionally, the chemicals injected by Tesseract's mask grant him a level of resistance to most toxins.