~A general of The
Iomad (Ainessa's army) and later a politician.
~Mannix is docile
and soft-spoken, winning veneration from both council patricians and military
officials with a sophic and refined manner. His unassuming obedience to his
superiors, although noble in intention, marks him a pliable tool open for
exploitation by the more ambitious members of Ainessa's government. This demeanor,
however, is one he deliberately takes on with subtle and convincing guile…as
a few Ainessan councilors accidentally discover.
Upon recognizing the clandestine political misuse of his own rigid compliance,
Mannix embarks on a frustrated crusade to right the situation--one that only
serves to disenchant his previously unconditional country loyalty. Not willing
to be governed further under such circumstances, he takes advantage of his
judicious charisma and uses it to play an equally insidious game. Calculatingly,
he wins over some strategic foreign personalities and, wearing the same mask
of humble sagacity, places himself indirectly in control of the fates of three
different nations...his cool indignation still focused on much of Ainessa's
aristocracy.
The Gannon family bears the brunt of the conviction from Mannix's perspective,
and with them, he is particularly unforgiving. Ironically robbed of his chance
to humiliate Urien Gannon, he turns his attention instead to Urien's prodigal
son, Adomnan. Utilizing Adomnan's inherently lofty political aspirations as
a draw, Mannix engages him in a secretive wartime deliberation (that more
resembles a match of intellects)--both of them prolonging it in hopes of an
emerging opportunity to steal the upper hand.
For
the duration of his career in The Ionad, Rowan Ronwen is the most serious-minded
and devoted of Mannix's disciples. Regarding Mannix as something of a father
figure, he absorbs both his military philosophy and his ideals.
Although with most other characters, Mannix's loyalty is conditional and detached,
he remains emotionally allegiant to his elder brother, Grim. Grim, who puts
a good deal of effort in remaining oblivious to outside situations, approaches
Mannix with a similar attitude. Even at the peak of the multi-national unrest,
the two converse as if nothing had ever changed.
~Strangely,
Mannix started out as a space-filler in an early poster I drew of all of my
characters. There was a sizeable blank spot in one of the corners…and I
realized after drawing the whole thing out that there didn't seem to be a villain
of any sort. He now shoulders a good deal of the story's drive, tipping the
scales to his liking wherever the chance arises. I chose a ram for his previous
character design mostly because the ram is a traditional symbol of evil…particularly
in Christianity (even though religion plays no part in the story). The ram is
also representative of Aries, a war god, which added to the relevance of using
that symbolism. After putting a good deal of work into his character, Mannix
became a little too complicated to be a simple villain in black and white terms.
He only plays dirty because everyone else does. Having at least started out
with a set of honorable values, he's not quite as villainous as many of the
other characters…but, as a result of his talents, he's more effective,
and that makes him a greater antagonist.
The name Mannix is Irish in origin and means 'monk'…which really isn't
of any importance. I did like the sound of the name, however. It seemed somehow
foreboding, perhaps because it sounds like the word 'manic.' Imagine my horror
upon finding out that there were reruns of an old detective TV series on Nick-at-Nite
by the same name. Hehe…I choose to disregard, though.
I think his current design has something to do with my mental association between
rams and Greek mythology, thereby arriving at what I consider a Greek look--black,
curly hair, tall and slender with a Roman nose. Then again, maybe it was the
old Cat Stevens look that had something to do with it.
