Background: Arminius (b. 18 BC/17 BC in Magna Germania - d. AD 21 in Germania) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. His influence held an allied coalition of Germanic tribes together in opposition to the Romans. History says that, after decisive defeats by the Roman general Germanicus (nephew of the Emperor Tiberius), Armin's influence waned and he was assassinated on the orders of rival Germanic chiefs. But history is written by the survivors. What really happened was that Germanicus, desperate to defeat the superior leader, hired a witch to capture Arminius. Placing a spell on him as he was murdered, Armin was made into the key by which the hell dimension Der Nacht could have a foothold on Earth.

Turned into the demon Pallequin, the former chieftain was stripped of his memory and forced to serve Der Nacht's master, the Boogie Man. This situation continued for millennia, cultivating in the attack on the Earth realm that caused the Champions of Justice to form and defeat the demon forces. This defeat shook the Boogie Man so much that he momentarily lost control of his minions and allowed an ounce of free will to return to Pallequin. This ounce blossomed and grew over the next few years until, finally, he staged his escape from Der Nacht and returned to Earth.

Still unaware of his true origins, Pallequin knew that he was meant to be a hero as soon became a founding member of the superhero team, The Hawk. He stayed there for a while, but eventually began to feel wanderlust and struck out with his new friend Ravenclaw (who was known as Dynamo at the time). The two had many adventures together, even working temporarily for the US government, until they were drawn to Arlington, Virginia to battle a former infiltrator to the Hawk named Vision. She was in fact a Follower of Germanicus, a cult who regularly made pacts with the Boogie Man, selling innocent, heroic souls for power. Her pact that day was to return Pallequin to his former master and, while it cost the lives of her three companions and took the forces of Der Nacht to complete the task, she succeeded. Upon his return to Der Nacht, Pallequin was tortured, both physically and mentally, having his memories returned to him to anguish over what he had lost. It culminated in the Boogie Man chopping off his head, but there was a side effect in doing so that the leader of Der Nacht had not taken into consideration: as the key to the pact, Pallequin's "death" meant that the pact was broken. This allowed the army of Der Tag to intercede and rescue the innocent souls, stripping the Boogie Man of his power and leaving him weakened. When they left, they took the soul of Arminius with them.

Once in Der Tag, the powers that be offered Armin the chance to return to Earth as their avatar. Arminius remembers two different sets of events from that day. One set had him agree to their deal, sending him back to Earth. But the second set paints a very different picture. He remembers them taking his memories and giving them to one of their own and sending him to Earth. According to them, they had sent other members of their kind to the Earth realm before, only to have them lose who they were and why they were sent. This way, driven by the memories of Armin, he would be able to hold onto his new identity and fulfill his assignment of being a champion of the people who would lead them to God. The only problem was that they had used the memories of a man who didn't pay a lot of attention to what the world around him had to offer, and thus the motivations of the imposter were quickly driven astray.

Finding himself once more a prisoner (albeit in the lap of luxury rather than in hell), Arminius was once again driven to escape, finding his opening when the witch and Germanicus himself were delivered to Der Tag. Taking his opportunity, he escaped, finding himself deposited on the very ground his mortal self was killed, once again in his Pallequin form. This time, however, he had retained his memories and, in searching out his hidden stash of treasure from his chieftain days, found it ransacked. Knowing he couldn't travel easily as a demon and believing his friend Ravenclaw still a prisoner of Dulling Mire (as that's where Vision had sent him in their last battle), Pallequin dedicated himself to making his way back to America, finding Vision, forcing her to rescue his friend, and then finally killing her for her misdeeds.

Quote: "Would you like to see the head?"