Hobmon

Habbalite of the Media

Role: Reverend Emmanuel Hobmon

Hobmon was one of Nybbas's first converts after he became Prince, but he ran afoul of some angels of War at the end of the 19th century, and didn't emerge from Trauma until the 1940s. He's never completely modernized, and dresses like an old-style preacherman, embellished by snakeskin clothing. He was given a radio show when he first returned to Earth, and has been preaching fire and damnation ever since. "Reverend Hobmon's Old-Fashioned Hour of Brimstone and Perdition" isn't meant to be satirical, but he's gained a cult following which has spread to the Internet, where his local Fort Worth broadcasts are now distributed. He is barely aware of this, and is in fact barely aware of the Internet, but it's only his popularity there that keeps Nybbas from tiring of the washed-out preacher entirely.

Hobmon preaches a twisted, fire-and-brimstone version of last-century Christianity with a heavy emphasis on self-flagellation and advocacy of human sacrifice, which he says God never stopped demanding of His flock. (He claims the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac is revisionism, and that Abraham did sacrifice his only son Isaac, and God was pleased.) He urges people who attend his sermons in person to harm themselves, and has caused several deaths. So far he's avoided prosecution, but loves the media attention that follows each death. He also hates other Habbalah of the Media for preaching New Age heresies.

He's really not terribly effective, but he manages to garner just enough attention to keep himself on the air. Every other demon in the metroplex knows who he is and stays away from him, finding him to be a particularly obnoxious raving loon even for a Punisher.