IRONY

// ASSASSIN

//In a fight, they portray an innocence to throw off opponents then sneak around for a deadly surprise attack.

//An assassin who prides themselves on deception and misdirection. They typically portray themselves as cordial and harmless, hiding their true intentions behind fake smiles to throw off their victims and add a dramatic flair to their acts. Aside from their assassinations, they also believe their lies can be entertaining for onlookers and will use them for humorous jokes as well.

“What use would I have from lying to you?”

“My point is that illness is not a metaphor, and that the most truthful way of regarding illness-and the healthiest way of being ill-is one most purified of, most resistant to, metaphoric thinking.”

- Susan Sontag, Illness As Metaphor

The phrase “healthiest way of being ill” directly challenges common perception of illness as a simple state of sickness by not only implying that there are different “way[s] of being ill,” but one is the “healthiest” of them all. This contrast from what is expected that health and illness are two opposite ends of a spectrum implores readers to reconsider their views and understand the ideas Sontag establishes.

“In a city of people used to rallying in an emergency, be it large or small, we have been forbidden from using our greatest strength. This virus is perverting everything: It’s Gotham’s kryptonite.”

- Glynnis MacNicol, The New York You Once Knew Is Gone. The One You Loved Remains.

The irony described in this quote emphasizes the historical significance of the pandemic. It is breaking the historical habit of an entire city, leaving residents at a loss on how to tackle this challenge. This also depicts the virus as something that is anti-community, and therefore, to pack animal humans, something inherently inhumane.

“Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honorable man.”

-William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

In this quote, Antony calls Brutus "an honorable man" (repeatedly throughout his speech) knowing that this is the current public perception of him. However, he does not actually think so, and by repeatedly associating this perception with the former part of the sentence, which he methodically calls into doubt, he disables the integrity of the entire statement.

“A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.”

-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

This quote presents a difference between expectations and their reality. The concept of "star-cross'd lovers" reflect an ideal happiness found in true love between individuals. However, this relationship has instead ended in a tragedy with both parties committing suicide, an event made further jarring by the aforementioned image of true love these two represented.

REFLECTION

For Irony, they would obviously be a rogue class, but since I didn't want to repeat classes, they were made into an assassin (which I suppose is still a subclass of rogue within DnD). I thought this still fit well, if not better, since unlike the general umbrella term of what a rogue may encompass, an assassin specifically implies deception and ill intent, and given, not all irony is used with ill intent, it easily can be and often is, especially dramatic irony.

It was very fun designing this character, though the details might be hard to see due to the size (and all the lighting I added), so just as fun facts:

The yellow crescents under each eye are actually small smiles that can open as mouths and whisper lies as they pass by
Their normal eyes are typically kept closed to contribute to building a sense of ignorance, but they actually just watch the world very closely by the eyes on the backs of their hands (it's the part glowing pink past the bars on the back of the gloves)
The giant glowing mouth behind them is something they can summon and control, and is also how they assassinate targets (I wanted to reinforce this "power of words" concept, so they can control this mouth to open and bite, effectively slicing things in the way of the teeth)