| Cardinal Jasper | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical Information | |
| Race: |
Human |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Character Information | |
| Occupation: |
Cardinal |
| Real World Information | |
| First Appearance: | |
- "Oh, Cardinal Innocent! You do me too much honor! I will gladly do this thing for you! For the faith, and for my own immortal soul!"
- – Cardinal Jasper to Cardinal Innocent [src]
Cardinal Jasper is a priest appearing in The Darkness comic series.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Jasper was stationed in a small church in Belgium. One day, while they were remodelling the church, he finds a pair of artifacts, wrapped in cloth and hidden under a loose stone behind the altar. He also finds a letter belonging to Mireille De La Croix. Remembering, that Cardinal Innocent studied Biblical archaeology, he decided to bring them to him.
Artifacts of Mireille De La Croix[]
After arriving to Vatican, Jasper meets with Cardinal Innocent and shows him his discovery. The Cardinal takes a look at the items. He finds a crown, a sceptre and two rings. He guesses that these items were crafted many hundred of years before Christ and seem Hebrew in design. He notices Hebrew characters inscribed on the rings with a unicorn one of the rings and a lion on the other one. Cardinal Innocent believes the artifacts to be real and may have once belonged to some ancient Jewish ruler or even King David himself.
Cardinal then ponders as to how these artifacts ended up in a small Catholic church in Belgium. Father Jasper then reveals, that he knows the Cardinal sometimes works with Magdalena. Cardinal confirms this, but is confused as to how he came to know this. Father Jasper explains, that he has heard rumors about the woman and that the Cardinal is connected to her. Seeing no harm in revealing this information, Cardinal tells the Father, that Magdalena is the guardian of the church. After Mary Magdalene was blessed with a special gift to reveal the sins of one's past, all the women descendent from her, possessed this power. For centuries, the heirs of Mary Magdalene, all women, have served the church taking the title of Magdalena and utilizing her gift in the best interests of the Vatican. Their best triumph was revealing his past sins to Hitler and retrieving the Spear of Destiny from him.
Father Jasper, then points out, that there's no mention of Mary Magdalene having the child in Bible. The Cardinal answers, that there's no mention of her not having a child either. And being a prostitute, she wasn't particularly important person. Her descendants were lost in anonymity for over a thousand years, until the year 1253, when a convent in France discovered that one of its wards, a young woman who claimed to be a descendant of Mary Magdalene, was gifted with remarkable abilities. Father Jasper then quickly says, that the woman was Arianne De La Croix. This confuses the Cardinal, as Jasper claimed to know nothing of the Magdalena. The Father tells him, that with the artifacts came also a letter, written by Mireille De La Croix to her daughter Arianne in the year 1239. He adds, that if the letter is true, it could bring about the destruction of the holy church.
Seeing, that the letter really distressed Father Jasper, Cardinal Innocent decides to read it for himself. After reading Mireille De La Croix's letter, Cardinal Innocent disregards it as nonsense and sends Father Jasper to meditate for a few weeks and asks him to call in his assistant.
Meeting with Cardinal Innocent[]
Cardinal Jasper was invited by Cardinal Innocent to have a talk. Cardinal Innocent tells Jasper, that he has set in motion a series of events that will alter the future of church. Because of this, he needs someone else besides him to take the credit for these events, so he chooses Jasper. Cardinal Jasper is honoured and gladly takes this task.
Judgement[]
The next day Cardinal Innocent and Cardinal Jasper come before the inquisitors. The inquisitors blame Jasper for sending Sister Mariella on a mission to kill The Darkness host not only before she finished her training, but also without their blessing. Realising his predicament, Cardinal Jasper pleads for help from Cardinal Innocent, who keeps silent. Inquisitors then sentence him for the betrayal of the church and send him to the dungeons.
Personality[]
Cardinal Jasper is humble and devoted servant of God and the church. He is quite naive and gullible, which is why Cardinal Innocent uses him as a scapegoat for his crimes.
Gallery[]
