The Torn Prince is the ghost of Royce Clayton and the fifth ghost to be featured in The Black Zodiac.
Biography[]
Royce was born in 1940, and was discovered to be a gifted baseball player in high school, despite his attitude problems and superiority complex. As the star slugger of his town's baseball team, he was offered first-class scholarships from various colleges, all of them offering him the best opportunity to leave his small town life.
However, fate threw a curve ball when Royce was 17. Johnny, a local greaser, challenged him to a drag race. Royce held his own for the first half mile of the race, but unbeknownst to Royce, the brake line on his car was cut prior to the event. This, of course, caused Royce to lose control of his car and drive it off the road, resulting in an accident where the car flipped three times which tore a large amount of flesh off of his chest, as well as the right side of his face before bursting into flames with him still in the car. This incident quickly ended Royce's life.
After Death[]
Royce's body was buried in a plot of earth overlooking the local baseball diamond where he played at. Following Royce's death, his spirit remained bound to earth, and was later captured by Cyrus Kriticos to become the Torn Prince. The Torn Prince was then moved to the basement of Basileus's Machine with the other eleven ghosts.
The symbol of the Torn Prince.
As a ghost, he still carried his wooden baseball bat and would attack nearly anyone with it within close proximity. Dennis Rafkin and Ben Moss encountered the Torn Prince in his containment cube in the basement, with the Torn Prince terrifying Dennis. Later, when the walls of the house shift, Dennis becomes trapped with the Torn Prince in his containment cube, until, with Maggie's assistance, he dodges the Prince's attacks and escapes the containment cube through a closing opening.
When Arthur and Dennis try to get through the house to the basement, the Torn Prince is the eleventh ghost to be released. He viciously attacks the two, but they use a detached wall as a shield against his attacks. However, when the Torn Prince doesn't give up, the two use the pane to ram him into another wall, defeating the ghost.
Shortly after, a Latin chant causes the Torn Prince, along with the other eleven ghosts, to go to the center of the machine and power it up. When the Torn Prince and the other ghosts are freed from the trance, they throw Cyrus into a rotating crest of rings. The house then explodes, destroying its walls, and freeing The Torn Prince and the other eleven ghosts.
Weapons[]
- Baseball Bat: In death, he wields his baseball bat as a weapon with brutal force. Whenever he uses it, it is like the way a baseball player would use a bat.
Trivia[]
The Artifact of The Torn Prince
- In his containment cube, the overturned car which killed Royce can be seen behind him.
- The video narrated by Cyrus that explains the Torn Prince's backstory states that his car exploded and that this is what killed him. However, most other, less direct sources state that it flipped over, dragging Royce under it. The overturned car behind the Torn Prince in his containment cube would indicate that the latter source is exactly how Royce truly died.
- The noises associated with Royce's presence are violent and angry wails.
- The Latin inscription beneath The Torn Prince's symbol in The Arcanum, "Eques Scissus" translates to "Rent Knight". Rent is another word for "Torn".
- He is the third male ghost in the zodiac.
- His ghost file is represented by a baseball trophy.
- He is one of the more violent ghosts.
- The Torn Prince, represents Leo in the traditional Zodiac. Leos have the negative traits of vanity, pride, and being overly demanding, as evidenced by the ghost's violent nature.
Gallery[]
