Steal these villains: The Cousins Brothers.

Some of my characters exist in particular worlds, others are designed to be dropped in anywhere a GM might need them. The Brothers are an idea I’ve had for when I next run a Deadlands game, so they will be written to fit into that world. Please feel free to change anything that doesn’t make sense if you want to use them in a different capacity.

They used to be soldiers, but no one has ever gotten as satisfactory answer from anyone about which side they fought for. They will happily switch allegiance depending on whoever it is that is paying for the contract. The fact that they are merciless killers should not lead you to a decision in any way, as both sides have their share of heroes as well as villains. Even the stories that get bandied about in bars and saloons throughout the disputed territories put them on either side at one time or another.

And the stories are always filled with blood; as if a crimson trail follows them wherever they go.

Joel and James Cousins are brothers separated by a year in age, but not much else to look at them. Although they may not be twins, they are close to identical and take great pains to highlight this similarity. This means that in passing most people would struggle to tell one from the other. Each has an eye patch over their left eye, but it’s only on a closer inspection that it becomes obvious they each lost their orb in a different manner. Joel has obvious scarring around the socket that looks to be the result of a bladed weapon slicing the flesh apart. James on the other hand looks to have had his eye removed in a far less extreme manner, with what is almost certainly medical precision.

That is in fact exactly what happened. You see, Joel tends to get himself into fights a hell of a lot more than James. Not that James isn’t just as much of a blood thirsty son of a bitch, but James is far more careful. He’s much more likely to slit a throat, slide a blade between a sleepers ribs, or fire one round into someone’s temple before they even know they’s pissed him off. Joel though, he likes his enemies to know that he’s coming. Although he is not often bested, one day, about a decade back, a man named Ash was quicker with a balde than he had any right to be, and took his eye from him, but left him alive.

This was a turning point in the Brothers’ lives, as Ash was both more and less than a man. He was an agent of a higher power with designs on the world of man that involved more pain and suffering than both of the Brothers combined could ever imagine. Even he was impressed by what he saw in the two hired guns, and made them an offer. Work for him whenever he asked; do any job, no matter how deplorable or inhumane, and their reward would be beyond measure. Enough money for them to live the high life, and something much more valuable; the favour of Ash’s patron.

They would gain just a hint of this power, making them faster, stronger, tougher, and a damned sight harder to put in the grave than damned near anyone they were likely to meet. As well as working whatever jobs that Ash could dream up, he had just one thing to ask of them, something to prove their commitment to the contract. He liked that the Cousins Brothers were a matching set, but lacked the means to replace the eye taken from Joel. His solution was simple; James must sacrifice an eye of his own.

So now they work the frontier as regulators and mercenaries whenever Ash has no need of them, getting paid well but thriving more on the chaos and destruction they cause above anything else. If you meet them, hope that you’re not of interest to them, but even then, you may attract their attention. They certainly attract more than their fair share.

With their distinctive appearance and predilection to dress like Yankee gentlemen, they are easily spotted amongst the dregs of humanity that eke out an existence on the frontiers of the weird west. Joel has also taken to trying to sound as eloquent and verbose as the dandies he seeks to emulate. This means he rambles when he talks, throwing in long words whenever possible, regardless of whether or not he knows their true meanings. James keeps himself quiet most of the time, but don’t be fooled into thinking there’s nothing beneath the surface. He has a potent intellect, and more often than not uses it to ensure the suffering they both spread affects as many poor souls as possible.

With the war spreading West, the rampant infighting amongst either side and more new factions throwing themselves into the fray every live long day, it looks like they’ll be kept busy for a ling time to come. Or at least until someone with sand to spare sends them to their graves.