Duke Arfaas (disambiguation)

Duke Arfaas Hebbleskin is a major villain in the Gerosha universe of Dozerfleet Comics. A rather ineffectual but fanatical evil overlord, he is an enemy of Ciem, Emeraldon, Meerkat, Mukade, Earwig, Sniperbadger, Sapphire King, and Darius Philippine.

Gerosha Prime
Duke Arfaas Hebbleskin's debut was in the 2005 version of Ciem. He was portrayed as often disguising himself as the Grim Reaper, and offering his followers instructions from behind Zeran mirror portals. After Fantisk and Sgt. Luddin die in The Battle for Gerosha, Arfaas took control of the Hebbleskin Gang. He ruled alongside his sister Harga Hebbleskin, who eventually drank a potion and turned human. Harga renamed herself Hannah and ran away with a hippie-wannabe. Arfaas continued to rule without her, but was eventually killed by Ploribus. Little was known about him directly; his will was mostly established by his underlings.

Despair Gerosha
Harga remained in this version, but didn't become human. Arfaas became actually less dark, but still dressed up like the Grim Reaper. Since the 2006 version of Ciem was never finished, his fate remains unknown.

Ciem
Arfaas and Harga both returned for this version, and with a little more clarification of their goals. Arfaas wants to control Earth&mdash;starting with Gerosha and Dirbine&mdash;for the supreme emperor on Metheel. He also wants to find out who the Gifted "liPo" is, before she can bring about the demise of his Hebbleskin Gang. He occasionally still dressed up like the Grim Reaper, but did so less often. He also has a clarified motive of wanting to capture and behead "all the daughters of Shalia Flippo, be they wherever they are and be it however long it may take."

In this version, Arfaas and Harga actively pursued Candi and her sisters. They tested a prototype for Musaran using Justin Hogan; who was unable to show the types of increased aggression that Arfaas wanted. This led Arfaas to conclude he needed to abduct Jeraime Malestrom for the part. Harga all but completely disappears from the plot after this; but Arfaas sticks around to coordinate efforts with Merle Hourvitz in taking control of the town. He also orders Musaran's massacre at Hallison Hall; and orders a hit on Denny Levens.

Arfaas then disappears, leaving Merle and Musaran to handle things for a time. He resurfaces when news breaks out that Ciem brought the Kerpher Gang to its knees. He finds out with time that the Musaran AI backvisor is damaged, and is no longer loyal to him. This leads to him retreating when Ploribus raids Dirbine to reclaim the city. Ciem tracks down the rogue Musaran and disables him, freeing Jeraime in the process. Arfaas vows revenge before disappearing behind his mirror.

Ciem 2
Arfaas has made some inside connections in Washington by this point, and intends to use them to get his revenge on Ciem and the Flippo family. After a brief meeting with Lloyd Kolumn, he vanishes from the scene and lets Kolumn run operations. He also gives the clear for his Meethlite scientists to transform Simon into Captain Aardwulf. It is implied that he and Kimiyato are having an affair; but after initial hints nothing more is made of their relationship. Arfaas dies of a stroke offscreen some time after Ciem 2, and Kolumn begins the process of proving himself as a successor. His death makes the remaining and disorganized Hebbleskin Gang more desperate than ever by Ciem 3.

Ciem: Vigilante Centipede
Arfaas is revealed in Vigilante Centipede to be hiding some of his operations behind a front operation named Shiny Horizons. His top assassins Gunner and Skellig are notorious for ravaging villages in South America, to the point that they're even referred to as the Meethlites of Venezuela. There is no sister Harga to help him in this version. But while still inept, he is a little more controlled emotionally than his Classic Gerosha counterpart. Arfaas in this version doesn't have a Grim Reaper outfit; preferring to run operations more like a businessman. His means of capturing the Malestrom and Hamilton families is different; but his role in creating Musaran is ultimately the same as in Ciem.

Ciem: Nuclear Crisis
A flashback reveals Arfaas holding several conversations with Kolumn, as they elaborate on their plot to frame Miriam and get the Mik-Non to start a war on the city of Evansville. Meanwhile, they show concern that Ciem and Vienna Dockler could ruin everything. Arfaas authorizes the creation of Capp Aard in a similar manner to his [Classic Gerosha]] counterpart, and disappears in a similar manner.

Personality
Arfaas has been all over the map in terms of how he is depicted, with each version of the story aiming to emphasize a slightly different aspect of his character. His Gerosha Prime self was a brute who was single-mindedly bent on evil. His Despair Gerosha counterpart was a little more refined, but still cruel. His Classic Gerosha self is depicted as a bit of manchild and a sadist, actually deriving sexual pleasure from the thought of Candi's demise. He whines and pouts when he doesn't get his way; and vows revenge even in ways that make him look childish. In Comprehensive Gerosha, much of that is done away with. He is inept like in Classic Gerosha. But he is still dangerous, and he has more control of his emotions. He isn't completely bent on evil either; often coming up with "bread and circuses" ideas to keep his current and future subjects complacent rather than hoping blind faith and fanaticism/indoctrination will hold them true. He has been one of the most difficult characters to develop into a truly three-dimensional villain, in spite his importance to Gerosha mythology.

Development
The Gerosha Prime version of The Battle for Gerosha featured a similar character in a Grim Reaper outfit, who showed up very briefly. As a result, there was a strong desire to re-use the game's outfit yet again. Arfaas was based around that to begin with: a shadowy figurehead leader for the deadly Hebbleskin Gang. His mythology was refined steadily with each retelling, until he became the politely diabolical force of malice that he is in Vigilante Centipede. He has at times had a sister, a wife, a captive concubine slave, etc. But in the end, it seemed to work best that he was a lonely bachelor married to his job.