It would seem that the characters that end up becoming bona fide OCs of mine start their lives as RPG characters. And so I present The Red Strangler, originally an Awakened Animal Barbarian from a Pathfinder 2e campaign I've recently begun.


Originally merely a garden-variety giant mantis that happened to have a beautiful red hue, she was discovered by the Red Mantis Assassins, cultists of Achaekek, the Mantis God.


Perceiving her as a sacred animal, they decided to enact the Awaken Animal ritual to give her sentience.

The first thing she did upon the ritual's completion was reach over and strangle the nearest person. The startled cultists subdued her - only to later learn that the person she'd strangled to death had been a traitor all along.


Did she kill the traitor merely because he was the one closest to her upon awakening.

Or was this a divine sign?


Not wanting to take any chances, the cult of the Red Mantis God decided to take her in, and gave her a name - The Red Strangler.


The ritual also gave her enough intelligence to understand, and feel, love. Put simply, she desires a boyfriend. But not only does she live in a world of humanoids, most of which would run away screaming upon the very sight of her - but even if that weren't the case, she has an instinctive, reflexive, atavistic need to strangle anyone who gets too close, suitors included.

Love is a battlefield. And for Ms. Strangler, the battlefield is full of gorgeous yet very edible corpses.